Annie: How She Came to Be

knows] purply that “why” is not a question / But an answer coming forth deeply." -Jane Muschenetz, author of All the Bad Girls Wear Russian Accents Starting with a famous quotation from Anne Frank, this collection of themed poems is a rich imagining of many "Annies" - whose lives and thoughts are contrapuntal, surprising, and often arresting. The reader will be entranced at Chown's choice of language and clever, sometimes irreverent images -- memorable and original poetry. -Linda Kraus, author of Popcorn Icons Linda Chown’s new chapbook Annie, How She Came To Be is a tightly-knit and intimate offering in which strains of Lucille Clifton, Edgar Lee Masters and the tender tough tone of Mae West can be heard through Annie’s “soft whisper memories,” which pose calmly compelling questions for which “an answer coming forth deeply” satisfies the reader on several lovely and moving levels. In this artfully concise and emotive narrative, Chown has found “Just the right walking stick” with which “To mourn losses” and stir, honor and conjure the secret life which lurks just below the surface of all of us. -Connolly Ryan, senior lecturer at UMass’ Commonwealth Honors College