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Last week on the Seattle Poetry Chain, we ran a beautiful poem by Crystal Curry. The comments turned into what this poetry blog referred to as "all out warfare," and Curry responded with class and intelligence. Yay for her!

And yay for Curry's next pick, Susan Parr. Here is what Curry had to say about picking Parr:

The next poet I'd like to induct into the chain is Susan Parr. I first became familiar with her work when she reviewed my boyfriend's book. I haven't read a whole lot of her work, but the few poems that I've read have really enchanted me. Heather McHugh picked two of her poems for the 2007 Best American Poetry, and as much as I tried not to like them (I was jealous), I just really couldn't help it. I didn't even throw the book across the room. People have called her work "witty" and "intelligent" and "meaningful" and whatnot — that part isn't as interesting to me, so much. It's what she does with language, metrics and rhyme that I admire — the obvious influence of her mentor, McHugh. I'm all in for the pretty package — the stylization, the quick turns. Parr's poems are dazzling — and if they're "meaningful," I guess that's even better. She just won a first book contest, by a pretty good press, so I must not be the only one who likes them. Anyway, she's probably going to be like the next big thing. And she makes good hamburgers.

In addition to that great introduction to Parr, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that if you abbreviate properly, her name is S.Parr, which is pretty cool, too. As mentioned above, Parr has a collection of poems called Pacific Shooter coming out in March from LSU Press. You can pre-order that book here. Here is Susan Parr's poem for the Poetry Chain:

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You can also read more of Susan Parr's poems (including, delightfully, one that is "To be read in the voice of Björk") here.

Many thanks to Susan Parr. Tune in next Friday at noon to see who she chooses to be the next link in the Seattle Poetry Chain.