BOSSELAAR, Laure-Anne 1943-

PERSONAL:

Born 1943, in Belgium; married Kurt Brown (a poet). Education: Warren Wilson College, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Fax: 212-243-8702. Agent—c/o Author Mail, BOA Editions Ltd., 260 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14604. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Poet, editor, and translator. Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, teacher. Worked for radio and television stations in Belgium and Luxembourg.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

Artemis (in French), [France], 1982.

The Hour between Dog and Wolf, foreword by Charles Simic, BOA Editions (Rochester, NY), 1997.

(Editor, with husband, Kurt Brown) Night Out: Poems about Hotels, Motels, Restaurants, and Bars, Milkweed Editions (Emeryville, CA), 1997.

(Editor) Outsider: Poems about Rebels, Exiles, and Renegades, Milkweed Editions (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

(Editor) Urban Nature: Poems about Wildlife in the City, introduction by Emily Hiestand, Milkweed Editions (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Small Gods of Grief, BOA Editions (Rochester, NY), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

Poet Laure-Anne Bosselaar, who was born in Belgium during World War II, lived in several European countries before moving to the United States, where she earned an M.F.A. from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Bosselaar's first collection of poetry, Artemis, was written in French. Since moving to the United States, Bosselaar, who is fluent in five languages, has worked on translations of American poetry into French. She has also translated Flemish poetry into English and edited poetry anthologies. With her husband, poet Kurt Brown, she edited Night Out: Poems about Hotels, Motels, Restaurants, and Bars, which includes poems by such notable U.S. poets as Raymond Carver, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jorie Graham, Maxine Kumin, Galway Kinnell, Charles Simic, Thom Gunn, Joy Harjo, and Derek Walcott, as well as many selections from lesser-known writers. Scott Veale, in the New York Times Book Review, admired the collection as "a clever homage to restless souls and creatures of the night." Veale liked the book's range of moods, from the dark to the whimsical, but pointed out that many of the best selections "are odes to transient hotels, seedy bars and all-night diners." A second edited collection, Urban Nature: Poems about Wildlife in the City was praised by North American Review contributor Vince Gotera as "a refreshing anthology" while Donna Seaman wrote in Booklist that "Bosselaar's anthology is a resonant testament to life's irrepressibility."

Bosselaar's first collection of poetry in English, The Hour between Dog and Wolf, contains poems that recall the author's European childhood, the aftermath of war, and her experiences in America. Charles Simic, in his foreword to the collection, praised Bosselaar's "authentic poetic voice," writing that she recognizes "the complexities and the endless contradictions" of the trials of modern life. Wyn Cooper, in Ploughshares, admired Bosselaar's "large" themes and her sensual descriptions that "evoke [life] in every color, smell, texture, and taste." Cooper noted that one of the book's strengths is its technical and thematic variety, from long narrative works about the poet's childhood experiences to shorter lyric poems on North American and European landscapes to poems about romantic love. Cooper found these love poems "the most moving" in this "unforgettable" collection.

The Small Gods of Grief contains poems that showcase Bosselaar's economical style and distanced viewpoint. "As good poems ought, Bosselaar's best suggest more than they say," noted Steven Cramer in Poetry, "but they do so with refreshing clarity." Cramer went on to praise the author's "crafty intelligence," noting its appearance in such poems as "Tourists in Brussels" and "Stamp Box," and adding that Bosselaar's "strong, unpretentious lyrics" make The Small Gods of Grief "both readable and rereadable."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Bosselaar, Laure-Anne, The Hour between Dog and Wolf, BOA Editions (Rochester, NY), 1997.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2000, Donna Seaman, review of Urban Nature: Poems about Wildlife in the City, p. 2102.

Library Journal, August, 2000, Louis McKee, review of Urban Nature, p. 110.

New York Times Book Review, July 6, 1997, Scott Veale, review of Night Out: Poems about Hotels, Motels, Restaurants, and Bars, p. 14; November 4, 2001, Ken Tucker, review of Small Gods of Grief, p. 32.

North American Review, May-August, 2001, Vince Gotera, review of Urban Nature, p. 74.

Ploughshares, fall, 1997, Wyn Cooper, review of The Hour between Dog and Wolf.

Poetry, July, 2003, Steven Cramer, review of Small Gods of Grief, p. 32.