The Hills of Holland
Esther Schor

Archer Books
106 pp. Paper 6 ˝ " x 8˝"
ISBN 1-931122-08-3
First Edition

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Poetry on the wayward fortunes of travel, art and myth, and the givens of everyday life. Title poem focuses on Sumatra in the late 18th Century through the eyes of William Marsden, linguist, historian and naturalist; and ‘La Udden, a Maylay exile in England.Poetry on the wayward fortunes of travel, art and myth, and the givens of everyday life. Title poem focuses on Sumatra in the late 18th Century through the eyes of William Marsden, linguist, historian and naturalist; and ‘La Udden, a Maylay exile in England.

Reviews

"Esther Schor’s poems take on the miniature, the universal, and the finely graded territory in between, creating moments both of recognition and of astonishment. Schor has the unusual ability to be rigorous and philosophical, and, at the same time, tender and often wise; these poems feel like a modern answer to Rilke. Her subtle mastery of form lends her work a lucid elegance that complements her historical, mythic, and painterly subject matter. The final long poem is a tour-de-force."
—Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon : An Atlas of Depression (National Book Award)

"Esther Schor’s The Hills of Holland is an immensely accomplished and mature ‘first volume’ of poems. ‘Opera Without Words’ is a poignant permanence, while other meditative splendors include ‘The Works of Galla Placidia,’ ‘Fireflies,’ ‘The Snow Ghosts,’ and ‘Scout Scar.’ But the book’s glory is its title poem, a visionary narrative so thoroughly seen and composed that it stands as one of a handful of major American longer poems, of middle length, of the last half-century."
—Harold Bloom

The Author

Esther Schor is a poet, scholar, editor and Associate Professor in the Department of English at Princeton University. Her poetry has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, The Yale Review, London Magazine and other American and British journals. She was awarded the Joseph E. Brodine Prize and her poem "Fireflies’" has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.