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Harbinger: Poems
“The speaker in Shelley Puhak’s Harbinger is no closer to knowing herself than I am, than we are, which is why we trust her. Each similarly titled poem holds a triptych mirror up to the artist and, in so doing, up to us all, so we may better see ourselves as we are. In ever-changing form.” —Nicole Sealey A stunning meditation on artistic creation and historical memory from the winner of the National Poetry Series, chosen by Nicole Sealey From “Portrait of the artist, gaslit” to “Portrait of the artist’s ancestors” to “Portrait of the artist reading a newspaper,” the poems in Harbinger reflect the many facets of the artistic self as well as the myriad influences and experiences that contribute to that identity. “Portrait of the artist as a young man” has long been the default position, but these poems carve out a different vantage point. Seen through the lens of motherhood, of working as a waitress, of watching election results come in, or of simply sitting in a waiting room, making art—and making an artist—is a process wherein historical events collide with lived experience, both deeply personal but also unfailingly political. When we make art, for what (and to whom) are we accountable? And what does art-making demand of us, especially as apocalypse looms? With its surprising insights, Harbinger , the latest book from acclaimed poet Shelley Puhak, shows us the reality of the constantly evolving and unstable self, a portrait of the artist as fragmentary, impressionable, and always in flux.
- GenresPoetry
80 pages, Paperback
Published October 18, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
October 9, 2022
ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed a lot of the poems in this book and how the author is still exploring self and a variety of everyday situations that are relatable. I felt like sometimes the spacing was off or the language used was a bit much, but I overall liked where she was coming from and the points she was making as an artist.
I really enjoyed a lot of the poems in this book and how the author is still exploring self and a variety of everyday situations that are relatable. I felt like sometimes the spacing was off or the language used was a bit much, but I overall liked where she was coming from and the points she was making as an artist.
February 21, 2023
When I was in grad school, I had a teacher who once told me a story about a girl he had taught. He told me he was going to give me the same advice that he'd given to her: "Now that you know how to write a poem well, learn how to write a poem people want to read." Puhak could have used this advice.
These poems, while beautifully crafted, evoke no feeling or thoughtfulness with their themes and imagery. They feel flat and basic, like the beautifully chosen words are supposed to make up for lack of sustenance. It was a sad experience because I was looking forward to reading this.
I guess I let the cover fool me.
These poems, while beautifully crafted, evoke no feeling or thoughtfulness with their themes and imagery. They feel flat and basic, like the beautifully chosen words are supposed to make up for lack of sustenance. It was a sad experience because I was looking forward to reading this.
I guess I let the cover fool me.
July 15, 2022
-Disclaimer: I won this book for free through Goodreads giveaways in exchange for an honest review.-
Someone will think this is art, but not me.
I am not delighted by poetry that only cares about the shock factor and not the deeper meaning. I can only say I like the cover. The poetry was worded randomly and graphically, examples below.
-Detail of the patron saint of Pompeii's privates (says it made them nauseous & nervous).
-Talks about "sperm spent in handkerchiefs".
-A waitress that "stews in her own juices, that whore".
-"Pinch my ass it will jiggle like a wet lung".
-Pornography, backroom moaning, and then randomly throws in "Baby. Sky-bound in the star-farm. Gas-fat".
-They dream of eating fingernails.
Someone will think this is art, but not me.
I am not delighted by poetry that only cares about the shock factor and not the deeper meaning. I can only say I like the cover. The poetry was worded randomly and graphically, examples below.
-Detail of the patron saint of Pompeii's privates (says it made them nauseous & nervous).
-Talks about "sperm spent in handkerchiefs".
-A waitress that "stews in her own juices, that whore".
-"Pinch my ass it will jiggle like a wet lung".
-Pornography, backroom moaning, and then randomly throws in "Baby. Sky-bound in the star-farm. Gas-fat".
-They dream of eating fingernails.
June 14, 2022
Harbinger is my first read of Shelley Puhak. I went in not knowing what to expect. I love poetry and I very much enjoyed this collection. The titles of the chapters were the first thing that grabbed my attention. Then, when I started reading the poems, I really started to think of why I never read Shelley's books before.
When I found out that I have been accepted to read Harbinger, I got really anxious about writing a review for a poetry collection. It is not something I have done before so I might not know how to do it exactly. However, I can only say that I really loved this collection and I highly recommend it to poetry lovers.
Thanks to NetGally, Ecco and Shelley Puhak for the ARC.
When I found out that I have been accepted to read Harbinger, I got really anxious about writing a review for a poetry collection. It is not something I have done before so I might not know how to do it exactly. However, I can only say that I really loved this collection and I highly recommend it to poetry lovers.
Thanks to NetGally, Ecco and Shelley Puhak for the ARC.
July 2, 2022
i won this in a goodreads giveaway and I feel bad giving this a star rating at all because I am not a huge poetry fan and I didn't connect with this one very much, if at all.
the style wasn't for me and I didn't enjoy the reading experience in general. a few poems were more enjoyable than others but it really felt very uneventful and like it was overly flowery/trying too hard overall. (but again I'm not a poetry guy!!) even just as far as the feeling of words / language removing any meaning. it just didn't interest me, unfortunately. :/
so because I'm not a poetry guy but mixing with the fact that I just didn't find it enjoyable to read even for the themes/language, I'm giving it a 2.5. it's a very short collection and it had maybe 4 that I liked so I'm trying to give it credit while being honest about the fact that it was not fun for me lmao.
the style wasn't for me and I didn't enjoy the reading experience in general. a few poems were more enjoyable than others but it really felt very uneventful and like it was overly flowery/trying too hard overall. (but again I'm not a poetry guy!!) even just as far as the feeling of words / language removing any meaning. it just didn't interest me, unfortunately. :/
so because I'm not a poetry guy but mixing with the fact that I just didn't find it enjoyable to read even for the themes/language, I'm giving it a 2.5. it's a very short collection and it had maybe 4 that I liked so I'm trying to give it credit while being honest about the fact that it was not fun for me lmao.
November 18, 2022
"For what do They punish us / so bitterly when we were faithful to Them like dogs?"
A small but mighty poetry anthology. Shelley Puhak titles her poems with variations on "Portrait of the Artist as a..." which provides both necessary context and a mood. She experiments with her poetry, not sticking to one format, playing with space and italics and stanzas to offer us dear readers a further glimpse into just what she wants us to feel and see and recognize. From motherhood to weather to places, we understand that these portraits hang on the page ready to be admired and understood.
Beautiful.
A small but mighty poetry anthology. Shelley Puhak titles her poems with variations on "Portrait of the Artist as a..." which provides both necessary context and a mood. She experiments with her poetry, not sticking to one format, playing with space and italics and stanzas to offer us dear readers a further glimpse into just what she wants us to feel and see and recognize. From motherhood to weather to places, we understand that these portraits hang on the page ready to be admired and understood.
Beautiful.
October 3, 2023
This is a really interesting poetry collection and I really liked the “portrait of the artist as” aspect of all the poems. I don’t think I understood or comprehended all the pieces, but the ones I did get hit really good. Overall a really interesting collection.
May 26, 2023
I had to take my time with these poems, couldn’t read them all at once. Shelley Puhak does something with language that stuns, then lingers. It’s both beautiful and brutal, in the best way possible. “Portrait of the Classmate Who Died Young” especially resonates, along with the poems about motherhood (though they are about so much more). I will read this collection again and again.
May 31, 2023
Dark, wry poems about being a woman and mother and an artist.
April 2, 2024
17 Oct 2022
B.A. Van Sise for the New York Journal of Books
Harbinger is a reminder of something we all too commonly lose track of: the idea of poetry as an art form. It’s an idea often relegated to the beautiful but unnoticed piles of unsold chapbooks at lit festivals, and here—in only 39 poems—the poet’s idea could easily have faced the same fate. It didn’t.
Good.
The poems, presented as a unified piece where they live more as chapters than as singular works, owe a great deal to Terrance Hayes’ American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, faces the same challenges and offers similar successes. It offers not sonnets for mundane murderers, but free verse for an American creator. Every poem here is titled similarly: “Portrait of the Artist as . . .” and must overcome the same structural challenge: How do works stand on their own when their titles so closely mimic themselves? Even poor George Foreman must have, at some point, regretted naming all his children after himself.
Puhak crosses the hurdle with style, drawing in a litany of literary references that surpass the very one that is the titles’ conceit. It is condescending, of course, to be shocked at the literacy of a writer, but that is now the standard of more ancient times. Puhuk’s grasp here is shocking, reaching across centuries, millennia, to grab with weathered fingers at references of texts long misunderstood but here deeply felt.
That is not to say that there’s many dusty tomes to be found here, or cobwebs to be shaken out. There aren’t. There is instead a narrative that is perfectly contemporary, postmodern, and personal. There’s a story to tell, and it’s told well: there is a beginning, there’s a middle, there’s an end. And it is of now: dressed in sex, all of it, the most ancient thing there is that every generation thinks to itself have invented. So, yes, there is sex, rough and beautiful, messy and ugly, sex most foul as in the best it is, and complicated as it always is: sex as a reward. Sex, certainly, as a weapon.
Without giving away the surprises, it is exquisitely well-crafted: the sort of book that, for example, makes you—while riding on the A train, writing a book review—shout “Jesus Christ!” even though you believe in admiration only a little and in Jesus Christ not at all. But sometimes, humans walk on water. Sometimes, a book can surprise you.
Puhak, here, knows how to turn everything: stories, phrases, heads. She deputizes deities into the work and none of them feel unwarranted; sometimes, in these poems, she’s content to stand in their stead. She pushes you into clinics and hospitals and alleys and schools; she does not always feel the need to pull you out of them. At the end of Harbinger, you know that sometimes, when god closes a door, he throws you out a window. You know that sometimes you have to jump on your own.
B.A. Van Sise for the New York Journal of Books
Harbinger is a reminder of something we all too commonly lose track of: the idea of poetry as an art form. It’s an idea often relegated to the beautiful but unnoticed piles of unsold chapbooks at lit festivals, and here—in only 39 poems—the poet’s idea could easily have faced the same fate. It didn’t.
Good.
The poems, presented as a unified piece where they live more as chapters than as singular works, owe a great deal to Terrance Hayes’ American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, faces the same challenges and offers similar successes. It offers not sonnets for mundane murderers, but free verse for an American creator. Every poem here is titled similarly: “Portrait of the Artist as . . .” and must overcome the same structural challenge: How do works stand on their own when their titles so closely mimic themselves? Even poor George Foreman must have, at some point, regretted naming all his children after himself.
Puhak crosses the hurdle with style, drawing in a litany of literary references that surpass the very one that is the titles’ conceit. It is condescending, of course, to be shocked at the literacy of a writer, but that is now the standard of more ancient times. Puhuk’s grasp here is shocking, reaching across centuries, millennia, to grab with weathered fingers at references of texts long misunderstood but here deeply felt.
That is not to say that there’s many dusty tomes to be found here, or cobwebs to be shaken out. There aren’t. There is instead a narrative that is perfectly contemporary, postmodern, and personal. There’s a story to tell, and it’s told well: there is a beginning, there’s a middle, there’s an end. And it is of now: dressed in sex, all of it, the most ancient thing there is that every generation thinks to itself have invented. So, yes, there is sex, rough and beautiful, messy and ugly, sex most foul as in the best it is, and complicated as it always is: sex as a reward. Sex, certainly, as a weapon.
Without giving away the surprises, it is exquisitely well-crafted: the sort of book that, for example, makes you—while riding on the A train, writing a book review—shout “Jesus Christ!” even though you believe in admiration only a little and in Jesus Christ not at all. But sometimes, humans walk on water. Sometimes, a book can surprise you.
Puhak, here, knows how to turn everything: stories, phrases, heads. She deputizes deities into the work and none of them feel unwarranted; sometimes, in these poems, she’s content to stand in their stead. She pushes you into clinics and hospitals and alleys and schools; she does not always feel the need to pull you out of them. At the end of Harbinger, you know that sometimes, when god closes a door, he throws you out a window. You know that sometimes you have to jump on your own.
July 26, 2022
Harbinger is a courageous exploration into feminity, motherhood, personality and self, and artistry. Each poem functions as a portrait of a moment in time or a small whisper about a state of mind or physical being. Not a single poem missed the mark; each can be tied together to form a full portrait of a person. The theme is stuck to, and the author carries it with pure gravitas and craft.
The quality of each poem is the same as the one proceeding it, and the one that follows. Which doesn't mean that they are benign or basic. The quality is adhered to throughout the collection, which is its strength. The author's voice and tone is strong, and a unique sort of indent across each poem. I loved all of the unconventional views and expressions, all of the unusual ways of capturing a "portrait" of someone. For example: Portrait of the Artist as a Pipe, and Portrait of the Artist as a Squirrel.
Each poem is done in the style of a confessional poem, often reminiscent of the dense, weaving imagery that sticks in your mouth, designed to be read aloud that will remind you of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton at their best.
Thanks to Ecco and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The quality of each poem is the same as the one proceeding it, and the one that follows. Which doesn't mean that they are benign or basic. The quality is adhered to throughout the collection, which is its strength. The author's voice and tone is strong, and a unique sort of indent across each poem. I loved all of the unconventional views and expressions, all of the unusual ways of capturing a "portrait" of someone. For example: Portrait of the Artist as a Pipe, and Portrait of the Artist as a Squirrel.
Each poem is done in the style of a confessional poem, often reminiscent of the dense, weaving imagery that sticks in your mouth, designed to be read aloud that will remind you of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton at their best.
Thanks to Ecco and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 22, 2023
Thirty-nine portraits—mostly of the artist as fragmentary, impressionable, and constantly in flux—some keenly observant with clever titles, others a myopic blur without thick, corrective lenses. This, a portrait of the artist keening:
“This poem is not counting how many
times you can rearrange your face until
it stays that way.
This poem is not telling it
slant because you can bear it straight. . .
I, its creator, am like a lot of things—
an abandoned umbrella, a parking ticket.
Mostly I am like a dog in
the brush, like my own bird
dog in the brambles, pointing, only
pointing.”
—from “Portrait of the Artist as an Artist”
Favorite Poems:
“Portrait of the Artist in Labor”
“Portrait of the Artist as a 100-Year-Old House”
“Portrait of the Twentieth Century as a Plagiarist: A Cento”
“Portrait of the Artist as a Satellite, Petulant”
“Portrait of the Artist Watching the Space Shuttle Explode”
“Portrait of the Artist in Late August”
“Portrait of the Artist Reading the Newspaper”
“Portrait of the Artists Watching the Election Results Come In”’
“Portrait of the Artist as an Artist”
“Portrait of the Artist in the Pediatrician’s Waiting Room”
“Portrait of the Artist Under a Blood Moon”
“Portrait of the Artist After the Shooter Drill”
“Portrait if the Artist as Bog Body”
“This poem is not counting how many
times you can rearrange your face until
it stays that way.
This poem is not telling it
slant because you can bear it straight. . .
I, its creator, am like a lot of things—
an abandoned umbrella, a parking ticket.
Mostly I am like a dog in
the brush, like my own bird
dog in the brambles, pointing, only
pointing.”
—from “Portrait of the Artist as an Artist”
Favorite Poems:
“Portrait of the Artist in Labor”
“Portrait of the Artist as a 100-Year-Old House”
“Portrait of the Twentieth Century as a Plagiarist: A Cento”
“Portrait of the Artist as a Satellite, Petulant”
“Portrait of the Artist Watching the Space Shuttle Explode”
“Portrait of the Artist in Late August”
“Portrait of the Artist Reading the Newspaper”
“Portrait of the Artists Watching the Election Results Come In”’
“Portrait of the Artist as an Artist”
“Portrait of the Artist in the Pediatrician’s Waiting Room”
“Portrait of the Artist Under a Blood Moon”
“Portrait of the Artist After the Shooter Drill”
“Portrait if the Artist as Bog Body”
July 7, 2022
If I had a number to rate this books of poems, I would rate it a 2.5. I was generous and gave it a 3. I would not recommend this book to others unless your a literary superstar. Most of the poems were super obscure to me. They'd be on one topics and then sprinkle in something totally unrelated. Some of the poems I could somewhat make out talked about displacing native people, putting down a dog, space shuttle exploding, brothels and whores, mutilating your child so they won't be sacrificed, active shooter drills in schools. There was a few crafty stories that incorporated science terms like atoms, stars, satellites, Kuiper Belt. The story with the International seed bank I still cannot make heads of tails of. I viewed a lot of the stories having a dark undertone referencing death, injury, or something of the like. It was definitely not something I would choose to read again.
April 30, 2022
At the beginning of the book, the publisher goes on to explain that the poems written in this book is different from the print version. They are right this time. It does seem like the poems are broken. I would love to compare E-version to the print copy. But the poems seem to be written pretty good, if you like morbid things. I am into morbid and gothic stuff so this is the perfect book for me. I actually loved it!! I hope I am actually right about this being kinda dark. I do not want to misunderstand the poems. If I am wrong then you have my sincerest apologies.
I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review
I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review
August 7, 2022
Harbinger by Shelley Puhak
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you Netgalley & publisher for the ARC!
I am going to be incredible honest, I did not enjoy this one as much as I thought I would. I had such high hopes as I truly enjoy poetry but it felt like these were poems that they would dive deep into in an advanced AP poetry class or something. They were hard to read and held little to no emotional impact for me which is how I usually see poetry and rate it - how if effects me emotionally. I understood the core concepts of femininity, womanhood, sexual experiences, motherhood, etc but it did not land with me in any way.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you Netgalley & publisher for the ARC!
I am going to be incredible honest, I did not enjoy this one as much as I thought I would. I had such high hopes as I truly enjoy poetry but it felt like these were poems that they would dive deep into in an advanced AP poetry class or something. They were hard to read and held little to no emotional impact for me which is how I usually see poetry and rate it - how if effects me emotionally. I understood the core concepts of femininity, womanhood, sexual experiences, motherhood, etc but it did not land with me in any way.
November 13, 2022
If you are a history buff like me you'll appreciate the reference to everything from Incan child sacrifices to the invention of the barometer to the WWII scientists who gave their lives to save the international seed bank. These poems all adopt different personas, both human and machine, and even when the poems tackle tough subjects there is always a kind of dark humor at play (although the poem "Portrait of the artist after the shooter drill" really got to me). I don't know if I understood every single poem but overall, I found this to be a work of deep empathy and imagination that has really stuck with me.
July 26, 2022
I wanted to like this one more than I actually did. I enjoyed the writing style but wasn’t really connecting with the overall content. All in all, a quick read but none of the poems really stuck with me. The titles all being “Portrait of a…” made them all blend together in my mind but that might just be a me issue. I felt like this had a lot of potential but just didn’t resonate with me. I would give another book by the author a chance for sure. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
January 29, 2023
For context, this rating is from someone who does not usually gravitate towards poetry. I won this in a giveaway in hopes of expanding into reading more poetry.
I may have read this too quickly, but many of the poems just went over my head and were difficult to understand. There were a couple that really resonated, but that was not consistent throughout for me. For me, I want poetry to be accessible for all readers, and this one just didn't do it for me.
I may have read this too quickly, but many of the poems just went over my head and were difficult to understand. There were a couple that really resonated, but that was not consistent throughout for me. For me, I want poetry to be accessible for all readers, and this one just didn't do it for me.
July 16, 2022
Harbinger is a short book of poems. I enjoyed and related to a few of them. I just did not connect to the majority of them. I do not read poetry a lot so I feel that explains the disconnect. The poems are generally short and well-written. I would not recommend this book to just anybody. Those with a passion for poetry should give it a try.
March 5, 2023
I thought Puhak stretched her concept (“portrait of the artist as”) a little too thin with some of the subjects chosen, but I did find most of the poems engaging. Just not a collection that’s going to stick in my mind very long.
“portrait of the artist with the inventor of the barometer” was my favorite.
“portrait of the artist with the inventor of the barometer” was my favorite.
July 5, 2022
Thank you to the Goodreads giveaway for an advanced copy of Harbinger:Poems. I really enjoyed this collection of poems. There were a few that I couldnt get into, however there were many that touched me.
July 9, 2022
I'm being generous with my rating because I'm not a huge poetry reader although I do love poetry and write some myself. This was a Goodreads win and from the cover I thought it would be great poems but to me they just weren't. I just could not connect with these writings
July 21, 2022
There should be a trigger warning in the front of this book, some of these poems discuss and describe some things I know can be triggering for many. I gave this one star because I love poetry and there wasn’t one poem in this book that I liked, and I really tried to find at least one.
July 7, 2022
Not really my cup of tea. But if you like Emily Dickenson and more dark imagery, I would recommend this.
July 31, 2022
Some poems I understand ___ they haunt me. Others __ elusive __ slip beyond. my grasp, but like pottery shards they can cut.
August 6, 2022
won in a goodreads giveaway
hit or miss collection. some were fire tho !
hit or miss collection. some were fire tho !
September 9, 2022
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Honestly, not that great. The poems didn’t really sit well with me.
July 5, 2023
It was okay
July 9, 2022
An excellent collection of poems by an artist observing, examining, and sharing her connections to the world around her.
September 27, 2022
I won't pretend to be a scholar of poetry. My two main questions when reading poetry are: 1. Did anything stick with me and 2. Do I want to read this again?
The answer to both questions for Shelley Puhak's Harbinger is a resounding yes. Each of Puhak's poems brought something different. Each takes on a different persona hence almost all of them being titled "Portrait of the Artist as." Puhak has a knack for using words jump off the page without being distracting. Portrait of the Artist as a 100 Year Old House is the standout for me and perfectly illustrates her mastery of this old thing. Who else could write about a house smelling "like old apple core" and make that feel real.
Ultimately, when I finished Harbinger, I had already plan to revisit it soon. I don't think there is a stronger recommendation than that.
(I was provided this book as an advance copy by Netgalley and Ecco Books.)
The answer to both questions for Shelley Puhak's Harbinger is a resounding yes. Each of Puhak's poems brought something different. Each takes on a different persona hence almost all of them being titled "Portrait of the Artist as." Puhak has a knack for using words jump off the page without being distracting. Portrait of the Artist as a 100 Year Old House is the standout for me and perfectly illustrates her mastery of this old thing. Who else could write about a house smelling "like old apple core" and make that feel real.
Ultimately, when I finished Harbinger, I had already plan to revisit it soon. I don't think there is a stronger recommendation than that.
(I was provided this book as an advance copy by Netgalley and Ecco Books.)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews