Nostalgia for the Future - by Gregory Djanikian (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Gregory Djanikian's Nostalgia for the Future: New and Selected Poems, written over several decades, takes for its many subjects romantic love and its difficulties, the horrors of the Armenian genocide of 1915, the é migré experience and the joys and struggles of acculturation, the allure of landscapes and vast distances, the polarity of our material life on earth and our longing for what is ethereal and elusive, all in tones that are humorous, elegiac, contemplative, lyrical, and suffused with a gratitude for the mysteriousness and wonder of life itself.

Review Quotes

"Djanikian is masterful in his control of where a poem is going--and the reader with it."--Booklist

"Relying mainly on traditional forms and techniques to celebrate ordinary human experiences, Djanikian has the gift of surprising and delighting us on every page....Whether writing about country or city, his Armenian family history or biblical events remoter still, Djanikian has a clear voice and a clear, accessible vision. With The Man in the Middle, he is off to a most auspicious start."--Philadelphia Inquirer

"Written over several decades, Nostalgia for the Future takes for its many subjects romantic love and its difficulties, the horrors of the Armenian genocide of 1915, the émigré experience and the joys and struggles of acculturation, the allure of landscapes and vast distances, the polarity of our material life on earth and our longing for what is ethereal and elusive, all in tones that are humorous, elegiac, contemplative, lyrical, and suffused with a gratitude for the mysteriousness and wonder of life itself."
--Asbarez

"The lines could well be a description of this reader's response: thankfulness for the many genius notes and words that are now here in this collection for all of us to be grateful for."--Julia Alvarez, author of the most recent, The Cemetery of Untold Stories

"Like each of us, Gregory Djanikian keeps re-realizing that to be alive is deeply dangerous. 'Sometimes the earth's a desert of promise, / the world-soul damaged, dream-cities ruined.' The world is cosmically scary, so we need at least 'a surprise / to make you think / it's not all ruthless / even as the shots ring out / in the heart of the city.' Beyond that, we have to believe in some ongoing meaning in our lives . . . His generously readable poems help us feel that life is livable, full of ache but also of possibility."--Mark Halliday, author of Losers Dream On among others

"Djanikian reflects on social issues, relationships, family history, domestic life, and our connection to nature, always conscious of our place in the larger world. . . . Poets will study this book to learn how Djanikian works such magic."--Kathleen Aguero, poet and author

"Tone dictates what attitude the reader will take toward content, and Djanikian masterfully modulates tone, playing something in each key in order to give us the full range of experience."--Judith Kitchen, The Georgia Review

About the Author

Born in Alexandria, Egypt of Armenian parentage, Gregory Djanikian came to the United States when he was 8 years old and spent his boyhood in Williamsport, PA. For many years, he was the Director of Creative Writing at the University of Pennsylvania and is the author of seven collections of poetry from Carnegie Mellon, most recently of which is Sojourners of the In-Between. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, and in many anthologies including Best American Poetry, Good Poems, American Places (Viking), Killer Verse: Poems of Murder and Mayhem (Knopf), among others.