Melissa Range’s “Scriptorium” is one of the winners of the 2015 National Poetry Series. Being that April is National Poetry Month I decided I needed to read something by a new poet. The title of Range's little book of poems "Scriptorium", which thematically addresses the preservation of language, stories, and culture; and devotion, faith and God, caught my eye. Perhaps this is because, like Range, I too am fascinated by the written word, medieval texts, and theology.

Scriptorium is a curious work. Range jumps between her own Appalachian roots: its culture and dialect, and old English, ancient stories from Beowolf to Byrhtnoth, the Ealdorman of Essex who fought the Vikings in 991 A.D. to poems about monks making pigment to paint icons and altar pieces. Perhaps what ties all these poems together is that each poem is an exploration of language and how language travels and morphs throughout time. Her poems are beautiful (and occasionally full of playful fury) However, Scriptorium can be a jarring read at first. It's hard to see how the poems are threaded together. This is purposeful on part of the author....as really, each poem is about the use of language: practically, theologically, etc.

“Scriptorium” should be read by those who love the written word. It should also be read by those who wrestle with ideas, family, faith, and their own place in the cosmos. And if you're a fan of the medieval ages, check this out.

Favorite poems: Negative Theology and Navajo Code Talkers, WWII ( )

A lovely collection of poems that draws on medieval manuscripts and the poet's Appalachian birthplace to think about language, place, and authority. As a medievalist, I particularly enjoyed the pigment poems, each one drawing its inspiration from a pigment that you might find in a medieval manuscript, like "Lampblack" ("Black as a charred plum-stone, as a plume/ from a bone-fire, as a flume of ravens/ startled from a battle-tree—this lantern resin/ the monk culls from soot to quill the doom/ and glory of the Lord won’t fade"). The strongest of the lot however were probably those like "Ofermod" and "Fortunes of Men", which bring together the contemporary colloquial and the high-poetic of the Middle Ages to make something that really sings. ( )

I had never before encountered any poetry about Appalachia. While I'm not from the area, I've visited there a lot and only live a couple hours away. I particularly like "Regionalism" because it brings up things that Southerners are identified with, even if we don't relate to them. The many religious poems throughout the book really hit home for me, as well. This is a beautiful collection, and even the foreword was lovely to read.

Read the review on my blog here. ( )

I had some issues with this one. The early poems like "Verdigris" and "A Skiff of Snow" were great. After awhile, Range's poetry started to all seem the same. She is from East Tennessee, and she really doesn't like religion. She likes to use medieval imagery or biblical imagery to express this. Rinse and repeat. Then the last two poems, "Scriptoreum" and "Shell White" were great. ( )

Extremely well-crafted poems that mostly left me standing in the same spot I was standing in before reading. Great poems for academics and others who rarely bleed. ( )