The Special

Both fun and playful, Stavanger's poems display wit and beguiling originality. They shift from the oddball to the vulnerable and from the zany to the deeply meditative. Stavanger's collection embodies a spirit of the post-post-modern in both intellect and spark, while playing off cool disjunctions against electrifying erudition. There is a strong trace of the performative and dramatic in these poems—Stavanger's flair for performance poetry gives this award-winning collection a distinct and likeable flavor.