If in Some Cataclysm

If in Some Cataclysm is a universe in which “so much desired of each other and not enough of ourselves” is the norm. Anna Leahy’s poems remind us that “to be born is to be defined by what one is not and what one is also not,” echoing Simone de Beauvoir’s “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” The tenacity of Leahy’s poetry pushes me to “the brink” in the face of a sharp reality we’ve created. I’ll be reading this book again and again.

—Ruben Quesada, author of Brutal Companion,
the Barrow Street Poetry Prize Editors’ Choice