Letters to Borges

Stephen Kuusisto

“Poetry carves a topiary garden out of dust,” writes Stephen Kuusisto in his second collection of poetry, Letters to Borges. In his blindness, Kuusisto “carves out his own garden” writing to Jorge Luis Borges, a blind writer as well, with synesthetic visuals and imaginative description. Kuusisto writes from different cities, altering and shifting them, unrestrained by time or concreteness. Each one in turn becomes his own city depicted for Borges as a traveler journaling to a distant friend. Laced among these artful letters, Kuusisto includes fragments of his past, earnest and humorous divagations, elegies for poets, musicians, and friends while always retaining a sense of place. For Kuusisto, blindness is no debilitation, but instead an opening through the unperceived.

ISBN: 9781556593864

Format: Paperback

About the Author

Stephen Kuusisto directs The Burton Blatt Institute’s interdisciplinary programs in disability at Syracuse University where he holds a University Professorship. He is the author of the memoirs Planet of the Blind (a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year”) and Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening, and of the poetry collections Only Bread, Only Light, and Letters to Borges. His newest memoir, Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet’s Journey was published by Simon & Schuster. A graduate of …

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Reviews

“[Kuusisto] is a powerful writer with a musical ear for language and a gift for emotional candor.” —New York Times

Letters to Borges is an insightful and much recommended addition to any poetry collection.” —Midwest Book Review