Patricia Traxler

Photo by William Stafford, 1986

The Glass Woman

Traxler's second volume of poetry, written in the early '80s after she moved from Southern California to Kansas, explores the varied and sometimes risky terrain of love, desire, and trust, the power of secrets and silence, and the influence of family, in particular her Irish-American heritage. In contrast with her first book, Blood Calendar (William Morrow), which reflects her native California roots, The Glass Woman uses imagery of the unfamiliar prairie landscape to address themes of solitude, shared pleasure, alienation, and acceptance.

"The Glass Woman brings to mind Walt Whitman at his best, for Traxler has written an absorbing, haunting, feminine 'Song of Myself,'"

--Victor Contoski, Abraxas

To order The Glass Woman, see sidebar, lower right, or to order it direct from the publisher, go to www.hangingloosepress.com

Selected Works

Novel
“Bloody good—a compelling and beautifully written novel.”
—Toronto Sun
“With her stunning first novel, Blood, Patricia Traxler plunges the reader into a world both familiar and eerie. Seldom have the twin obsessions of love and art been more vividly or intelligently portrayed...More than almost any other novel I've read, Blood captures the relationship between an artist and her work, a relationship that is also susceptible to jealousy and revision and love...What an elegant, suspenseful, and steamy debut.” --novelist Margot Livesey
Poetry
“These poems strike a thrilling balance between personal disclosure and the rigors of writing.”
—Publishers Weekly
"Brings to mind Walt Whitman at his best, for Traxler has written an absorbing, haunting, feminine 'Song of Myself,'" --Victor Contoski, Abraxas
"A fierce and passionate collection!" --Publishers Weekly
Selected Short Stories
Now available on Amazon's Kindle and sold as singles, award-winning short stories from Traxler's collection in process, I'll Always Love You (unless you love me, too) , which looks with an ironic and darkly humorous eye at romantic love, fidelity and infidelity, the politics of sex, the single life and marriage, and the question of when, if ever, it all begins to make sense.
Author interview
Traxler talks about dividing her writing life between poetry and fiction; about the challenges a writer faces when living in a region so far "outside the glittering current"; and about the literary influences and life experiences that have shaped her perspective as a woman and a writer.

Quick Links

To order Traxler's short stories as singles
To order Patricia Traxler's FORBIDDEN WORDS
To order Patricia Traxler's THE GLASS WOMAN
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