Still I am Pushing by Candice M. Kelsey
$19.99
What a stunning , sobering and heartbreaking collection this is. These poems, constellating around the speaker’s relationship with her mother, are extraordinary reflections on a past that seemed intent upon demeaning misjudgments and willful misunderstandings. These powerful poems gather, one by one, into a lyrical and triumphant confrontation with the ghosts of that past. This is a book every mother, every daughter will want to read.
–David St. John, Author of The Last Troubadour: New and Selected Poems
Still I am Pushing, Candice Kelsey’s debut poetry collection, is remarkable for the unflinching eye it casts on daughterhood and motherhood, on the terrors and, sometimes, beauties of childhood, on the complexities of our bodied lives. In intense and clear vignettes with structural allusions to classic literature, Kelsey mines the depths of her life, and by association our own lives. As she writes: “steaming/inside every bone cold plate I bury/in the cupboard/ my mother, every mother.” This is a remarkable first book—powerful and wise.
–Gail Wronsky, Author of Imperfect Pastorals
This skillfully crafted collection both aches with struggle and shines with strength. In Still I Am Pushing, Candice Kelsey‘s spare, haunting, and lyrical voice explores the shadowy spaces between mother and daughter, self and mirror, body and breath. This collection sings.
–Marya Hornbacher, Author of Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
https://argonautnews.com/an-ode-to-the-westside/
Description
Still I am Pushing
by Candice M. Kelsey
$19.99, Full-length, paper
978-1-64662-160-6
2020
CANDICE KELSEY‘s first book explored adolescent identity in the age of social media and was recognized as an Amazon.com Top Ten Parenting Book in 2007. Her poetry has appeared in Poet Lore, The Cortland Review, North Dakota Quarterly and many other journals. A finalist for Poetry Quarterly’s Rebecca Lard Award, Candice’s creative nonfiction was nominated for a 2019 Pushcart Prize. She is an educator of 20 years’ standing, devoted to working with young writers. An Ohio native, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children.
http://www.candicemkelseypoet.com/
David St. John –
What a stunning , sobering and heartbreaking collection this is. These poems, constellating around the speaker’s relationship with her mother, are extraordinary reflections on a past that seemed intent upon demeaning misjudgments and willful misunderstandings. These powerful poems gather, one by one, into a lyrical and triumphant confrontation with the ghosts of that past. This is a book every mother, every daughter will want to read.
–David St. John
Author of The Last Troubadour: New and Selected Poems
Arthur Turfa –
Still I am Pushing – Candice M. Kelsey – Finishing Line Press
Undergirding this impressive debut is classical Greek theater – twenty sections organized by chorus, strophe, and catharsis but interspersed with contemporary modes such as Facebook and text messaging. Paired poems guide the flow of this insightful collection detailing a personal journey to wholeness.
The central metaphor is, as the title says, of pushing: while giving birth of pushing ahead through barriers and resistance, of heading toward something better than a current situation.
These poems contain a great number of allusions and images skillfully woven into a new creation:
The introductory poem is but one example:
hills like
white boxer puppies
a sun like Sol Invictus
at St. Peter’s.
my son’s nose
cold and red
a tiny Japanese flag
perfect drop of blood
Through allusions to Hemingway, Shakespeare, Scripture, and so much more, Kelsey does not hide the difficulties she encountered. There is never a tone of pity or anger; instead, she poignantly describes how things were and how she pushed through to become who she is today.
Still I Am Pushing is a stunning, well-written collection that deserves to be read.
—Arthur Turfa, Saluda Times, Finishing Line Press, 2018.
Madii –
Thoughtful and insightful. Very well written. Can’t wait to see what comes next from this author!