Defiance Street: Poems by Sandra Kleven
"Sandra Kleven walks a path of beautiful grit and hard honesty that remains uncompromising throughout. In poems like, 'Lament for Scott' and 'As She Waits for Word on Her Biopsy,' she gnaws her thoughts on aging to the bone with confessions borne of a poet's long consideration. Kleven's prose pieces are wall-to-wall poems. She speaks of the famous Blue Moon tavern, of the birth of the second half of the 20th century, and of Theodore Roethke better than he ever did. Bottom line? When I read Sandra Kleven's lines, 'She went after boys who looked like Jesus, / sandaled, contemplative, guys with that / crucified look,' I knew I'd need to say little else about Defiance Street besides: You must give this book a chance."
—Nathan Brown
Poet and essayist, Sandra Kleven is the editor of Cirque, a literary journal. Originally from Seattle, WA, she has spent much of the last 30 years working in Alaska's village communities.
Her work has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Oklahoma Review, F Magazine, and others. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her husband.