REBECCA HART OLANDER

It’s hard to believe we are already into the second month of 2022. I kicked off February with an in-person reading on 2/1 at Weinstein Auditorium at Smith College for Matt Donovan’s “Reading Contemporary Poets” class. It was so much fun to read from Uncertain Acrobats (and one poem from my chapbook Dressing the Wounds) to over 100 Smith students! The evening was split between reading my poems and having a great conversation with the whip-smart and welcoming Smithies about my book, writing process, publishing, and more. It was really sweet to be in company with this class that offers students “the opportunity to read contemporary poetry and meet the…

I come to you steeped in a mix of end-of-semester exhaustion and stunned gratitude for the parallel experience I’m living this fall: the release of my first full-length book, Uncertain Acrobats. Despite distance and what often feels like impossible times, there right beside those things is the kindness of so many people who have supported my book as it has started its way in the world. For example, Kwoya Fagin Maples, a poet whose work I deeply admire in her own book, Mend, recently posted this picture on Facebook, writing, “The kind of poetry that begs to be read mid-air.” Swoon! My book was also “Swifted”! The amazing Amy Lorraine…

I’m happy to announce that my first full-length book, Uncertain Acrobats, is officially out this week from CavanKerry Press. Thank you to each and all who have purchased a copy and helped spread the word. Books are available from CavanKerry, and I am also selling signed copies for $18 incl. shipping through Venmo (@Rebecca-Olander-2). I have bookplates I can send your way if you’d like a book you already bought to be a signed copy (email your mailing address to rebeccahartolander@gmail.com if so). It has been a joy to celebrate this milestone with folks far and wide as I share the news and read from the book. On Wednesday, October…

I’m excited to announce that my first full-length poetry collection, Uncertain Acrobats, is available in pre-sale from CavanKerry Press, at 20% off of the cover price. And speaking of the cover, here’s the beautiful cover created for the book by Ryan Scheife of Mayfly Designs: This book was written for and about my father, Thomas Seymour Hart. It’s a love letter of sorts, and it’s also an illness and grief narrative in poems. My dad died in 2012, and much of the book deals with the end of his life and my deep missing of him after his death; it also dwells in memories of his life and how it…

I’m happy to share that one of my poems, “Wellfleet,” is part of the new anthology Wayfinding: Poetry Celebrating America’s Parks and Public Lands, curated and edited by Amy Beth and Derek Wright and available from Finishing Line Press. This book grew from the Parks & Points project, and I am honored to be amongst the more than 50 poets “sharing moments of transformation and wonder that have been inspired by parks and public lands,” alongside original photography by Derek Wright, and short essays by Amy Beth and Derek Wright. Several readings were given to launch the anthology, featuring guest park rangers, the editors, and various contributors. I read on…