Hypergraphia and Other Failed Attempts at Paradise, Paperback

This collection of poetry explores the disruptive state of psychosis, with all its insights and follies, and the challenges of living life after a departure from the self. These poems reach for an understanding of the ecstasy and tragedy of madness through both lyric and prose forms that mimic the sublime state of mania through their engagement with language. Ordinary life becomes strange in these poems, which are playful and humorous at times and dark at others, as they seek resolution to the question of what happens when the mind overthrows the body.

About author(s):Jennifer Metsker received her MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan and studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her poetry has been featured in Gulf Coast, the Southern Review, Michigan Quarterly, The Journal, Rhino, Beloit Poetry Journal, Cream City Review, and the BBC Radio show Short Cuts. She is writing coordinator at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.