Matthew Olzmann – Defamiliarization (July 2022)

Matthew Olzmann explores the idea that poetry should “make the strange familiar, and the familiar strange.” How does
something recognizable or mundane suddenly find itself charged with mystery? How does something wild and surreal feel
immediately connected to our daily lives? In either case, these poems rely on the poet shifting the context through which
we view the poem’s emotional or conceptual core. The poets discussed include Campbell McGrath, Cathy Linh Che,
Brigit Pegeen Kelly, and Hanif Abdurraqib.