Wonderwork by Sandra Fees

The lyrical poems in Wonderwork explore the pressing questions of human meaning-making, reflecting on grief, spirituality and memory. The collection offers intimate and necessary moments of curiosity, hope and possibility in a world that is at once both heartbreaking and beautiful, difficult and joyful. Drawing subtle parallels between the landscapes of self and place, Wonderwork undertakes a personal search for healing that echoes a larger planetary need for wholeness.

In Sandra Fees’ compelling collection, Wonderwork, we’re invited to reflect on the wild hope that shapes our lives. In these captivating poems, Fees eloquently explores the spirituality of work and meaning, all while navigating themes of loss, memory, and place. Her lyrical poems bring us to the deeper questions of existence, moving from the uncloaked goddesses of the deepwood to a briefcase of bone to a clusterwink snail. These poems remind us of the power of an engaging voice to draw us in; in Fees’ words, You can fill them with the perfect life, / everything you think you want. // You can hide your suffering there. Wonderwork reminds us that in the midst of darkness and light, joy and struggle, we find our way through.

—Kelli Russell Agodon, Dialogues with Rising Tides (Copper Canyon Press)

To say that Sandra Fees merely weaves together poetry and philosophy would be to greatly underestimate her powers as a poet. While Fees uses style and technique as a point of entry to pressing questions about faith, mortality, and introspection, she is also a master storyteller. Here, the nuances of philosophy and theology are imbued with a startling sense of urgency, dramatic tension, and emotional weight. This book is an achievement, and Fees is clearly a rising star in the literary community.

—Kristina Marie Darling, Fulbright Scholar and author of Daylight Has Already Come (Black Lawrence Press)

This is a rare creation of song and scar, of vulnerability and both emotional and structural complexity. In Sandra Fees’ new collection Wonderwork, the outer and inner, conceptual and human worlds mingle in accessible yet complex ways. Brimming with meditations on faith, family, biology, landscape, and personal identity, these vibrant poems remain grounded in a universal familiarity that opens us up to something greater. If one of the aims of poetry is to condense our vast, contradictory, and beautifully human world into the briefest of songs, Wonderwork, being both intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging, stands as a testament to its possibility. 

—John Sibley Williams, Skin Memory (University of Nebraska Press)

Sandra Fees is the author of two chapbooks, The Temporary Vase of Hands (Finishing Line Press, 2017) and Moving, Being Moved (Five Oaks Press, 2017). Her poetry has appeared in The Comstock Review, Crab Creek Review, Nimrod, River Heron Review and Witness, among others.

A past poet laureate of Berks County, she lives in southeastern Pennsylvania and is a Unitarian Universalist minister. She holds a Master of Arts degree from Syracuse University where she studied creative writing, and Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Lancaster Theological Seminary. She can be found online at sandrafees.com.

Book Information:

· Paperback: 82 pages

· Binding: Perfect-Bound

· Publisher: BlazeVOX [books] 

· ISBN: 978-1-60964-477-2

$18