Distant Fires - by Doug Ramspeck (Paperback)

About the Book

Winner of the Grayson Books Poetry Prize, Distant Fires is a book about two brothers and the very different paths their lives take. With compelling language and great artistry, Doug Ramspeck reveals the complexity of the brothers' relationship: the love, the trauma, and the difficulty of fathoming another's heart.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the 2019 Grayson Books Poetry Prize, Distant Fires is a book about two brothers and the very different paths their lives take. One brother goes to prison and dies, but in this book he is given a voice, and his humanity is illuminated. With compelling language and great artistry, Doug Ramspeck reveals the complexity of the brothers' relationship: the love, the trauma, and the difficulty of fathoming another's heart.

Review Quotes

In the intense and compelling collection, Distant Fires, Doug Ramspeck reveals how the heart persists in loving even those who are unlovable. For the narrator, his brother is a puzzle he cannot abandon but never solve.... A section of letters from the brother where he describes his life spreading "out like some great and endless sea" demonstrates the complexity and sensitivity that cause the narrator to love his brother in spite of actions that should padlock the heart. Ramspeck's arresting language never wilts--it is muscular yet supple, woven with a tapestry of detail from the natural world.

--Vivian Shipley, Connecticut State University Distinguished Professor and author of An Archaeology of Days, Negative Capability Press, 2019

Distant Fires is a deeply moving book about the relationship between two brothers, one of whom was involved in the death of two women, was imprisoned, and died. The book reverberates with the voice of the dead brother, which gives him humanity and a human voice. The book succeeds in doing so artistically and with great passion.

--Robert Cording, author of Finding the World's Fullness: On Poetry, Metaphor and Mystery

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