Books with author Carolyn Light

Carol Light’s Heaven from Steam, a finalist for the 2012 Able Muse Book Award, moves effortlessly from the humorous to the serious, from mundane concerns to sublime. She writes as convincingly of carnal pleasures as of spiritual mysteries. Light’s playful energy is imbued with pleasing rhythms and sonic patterns. With surprising wordplay and associations, she renders complex vistas as understandable simplicities, finds fresh, inventive turns of phrase that will remain with the reader. Her multifarious themes include questions of faith, divorce, childbearing, cathedrals, the Pacific Northwest, the Prairies, Italy―especially Rome―and beyond. This visionary debut collection will delight the discerning lover of poetry. PRAISE FOR HEAVEN FROM STEAM: Carol Light’s Heaven from Steam is an extraordinary book, formally adept and wonderfully inventive. Light is a poet of arresting images and stunning sound effects; she needs just a few short lines to make even the old symbol of a sunrise worth our attention (“Pink lamé sundogs/ bodyguard/ the bigwig’s dazzled rise”). However perfect her details, though, and however sublime her phrases, it’s Light’s restless intelligence that keeps me returning to her work. Here’s a poet who inhabits, rather than frames the world; a poet of gestures, whose mind and heart are in motion, whether it’s a shrugged shoulder, or rolled eyes, or an open-armed embrace. Heaven from Steam is a thrilling debut. ―Jason Whitmarsh The book is marked by a lightness of touch. The overall effect is playful. . . . But she strikes another tone entirely in the crowning sonnet sequence, “Vicolo del Divino Amore” . . . the nimbleness with which she weaves and unweaves her lines and imagery around the birth of a yearned-for child. ―Brad Leithauser (from the foreword) In one of his “Dream Song” poems, John Berryman writes, “The glories of the world struck me, made me aria, once.” Carol Light, in Heaven from Steam, performs arias again and again; her songs are equal parts rapturous (“the sun ignites the lantern world”) and disquieting (“billboards blaze/ the end of days”). She takes up the Etruscan dead and the soon-to-be-living (“my one wish kicked/ and stitched herself into the world”), and she does so in lines that are musical and moving and often quite funny. She makes a magnificent debut. Upon finishing the book, readers will demand (like Goethe on his deathbed), “More Light!” ― Cody Walker Although these poems span landscapes from the Pacific Northwest to Italy, their true settings are interior, the complex terrain of an acutely observant and questioning mind. At times playful, at times philosophical, at times filled with longing, they take us past gulls and bell buoys, cathedrals and cobblestone piazzas, to the mysteries that surround us―and they do it all with stunning formal dexterity. Heaven from Steam marks the debut of a vivid poet already at ease with her art. ―Linda Bierds ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Carol Light received the Robert H. Winner award from the Poetry Society of America in 2013 and an award from Artist Trust in 2012. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, Narrative Magazine, American Life in Poetry, 32 Poems, and elsewhere. She studied poetry in the University of Washington MFA program, where she was awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize. She lives with her family in Port Townsend, Washington.

Carol Light’s Heaven from Steam, a finalist for the 2012 Able Muse Book Award, moves effortlessly from the humorous to the serious, from mundane concerns to sublime. She writes as convincingly of carnal pleasures as of spiritual mysteries. Light’s playful energy is imbued with pleasing rhythms and sonic patterns. With surprising wordplay and associations, she renders complex vistas as understandable simplicities, finds fresh, inventive turns of phrase that will remain with the reader. Her multifarious themes include questions of faith, divorce, childbearing, cathedrals, the Pacific Northwest, the Prairies, Italy—especially Rome—and beyond. This visionary debut collection will delight the discerning lover of poetry.PRAISE FOR HEAVEN FROM STEAM:Carol Light’s Heaven from Steam is an extraordinary book, formally adept and wonderfully inventive. Light is a poet of arresting images and stunning sound effects; she needs just a few short lines to make even the old symbol of a sunrise worth our attention (“Pink lamé sundogs/ bodyguard/ the bigwig’s dazzled rise”). However perfect her details, though, and however sublime her phrases, it’s Light’s restless intelligence that keeps me returning to her work. Here’s a poet who inhabits, rather than frames the world; a poet of gestures, whose mind and heart are in motion, whether it’s a shrugged shoulder, or rolled eyes, or an open-armed embrace. Heaven from Steam is a thrilling debut.—Jason WhitmarshThe book is marked by a lightness of touch. The overall effect is playful. . . . But she strikes another tone entirely in the crowning sonnet sequence, “Vicolo del Divino Amore” . . . the nimbleness with which she weaves and unweaves her lines and imagery around the birth of a yearned-for child.—Brad Leithauser (from the foreword)In one of his “Dream Song” poems, John Berryman writes, “The glories of the world struck me, made me aria, once.” Carol Light, in Heaven from Steam, performs arias again and again; her songs are equal parts rapturous (“the sun ignites the lantern world”) and disquieting (“billboards blaze/ the end of days”). She takes up the Etruscan dead and the soon-to-be-living (“my one wish kicked/ and stitched herself into the world”), and she does so in lines that are musical and moving and often quite funny. She makes a magnificent debut. Upon finishing the book, readers will demand (like Goethe on his deathbed), “More Light!”— Cody WalkerAlthough these poems span landscapes from the Pacific Northwest to Italy, their true settings are interior, the complex terrain of an acutely observant and questioning mind. At times playful, at times philosophical, at times filled with longing, they take us past gulls and bell buoys, cathedrals and cobblestone piazzas, to the mysteries that surround us—and they do it all with stunning formal dexterity. Heaven from Steam marks the debut of a vivid poet already at ease with her art.—Linda BierdsABOUT THE AUTHOR:Carol Light received the Robert H. Winner award from the Poetry Society of America in 2013 and an award from Artist Trust in 2012. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, Narrative Magazine, American Life in Poetry, 32 Poems, and elsewhere. She studied poetry in the University of Washington MFA program, where she was awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize. She lives with her family in Port Townsend, Washington.

In Fighting Tom, Jerry heads to Army boot camp to join an elite force like no other. He and his fellow felines train to sniff out danger. From overweight house cats to disciplined purebreds, the Fighting Toms pull together to battle barrack’s bullies and jealous dog handlers. Through it all, the toms learn what it means to be a team. And learn the most important lesson of all: never quit trying.

Tricked! Jerry’s effort to help a friend backfires and lands him in the clutches of catnappers. What do the men want? Ransom? Or something more sinister? Using all his wits, Jerry must outsmart the ruthless thugs to escape. With the catnappers in hot pursuit, Jerry begins his long journey back home aided by a grumpy raccoon and a monkey named Monty. Can Sarge and the other Bruckner animals save Jerry? Can the animals discover Jerry’s secret before it’s too late?

Almost your typical cat, Jerry spends his time fishing in the neighbor's goldfish pond and meditating in the classic cat nap pose. Jerry likes the quiet life. At least it was quiet until vandals hit the neighborhood. What follows is a spirited romp, with dogs and cats joining forces to rid the neighborhood of a gnome-smashing thug. A children's chapter book, Neighborhood Tails is first installment in the Jerry the Kat series.

Lost! Jerry the Kat must find his way home after escaping from catnapping thugs. With the help of a grumpy raccoon and a monkey named Monty, Jerry makes his way back to Bruckner. , only to discover the same catnapping duo have staked out his house. What secret does Jerry have that they want? Can Jerry discover the secret he possesses before the men catnap him again? Lost! Jerry the Kat must find his way after escaping catnapping thugs. With the help of a grumpy raccoon and a monkey named Monty, Jerry makes his way back home. But all is not quiet in Jerry’s neighborhood. The men return to nab him yet again. What does Jerry have that the men want? Jerry teams up with retired police dog Sarge to discover the secret and thwart the villians.

Jerry, almost your typical cat, finds himself in the sleepy Texas town of Bruckner. Jerry likes the quiet life. At least it was quiet until his family brings home King Leopold, an overeager puppy! Just as Jerry adjusts to his new pal, vandals hit the neighborhood. Is this a case of teens gone wrong? Or is it something more sinister? Together cats and dogs join forces to rid the neighborhood of a gnome-smashing thug.

Jerry the Kat heads to Army boot camp to join an elite force like no other. He and his fellow felines train to sniff out danger. From overweight house cats to disciplined purebreds, the Fighting Toms pull together to battle barrack’s bullies and jealous dog handlers. Through it all, the Toms learn what it means to be a team. And learn the most important lesson of all… never quit.