Relationship: A Poetry Book

In her debut poetry book Relationship Janice Greenwood explores what it means to be in relationship-with oneself with others and with the world. The poems follow the course of a relationship from desire and passion to early love to the familiarity and companionship of a long-term relationship to marriage and finally through the stages of loss breakup divorce and nostalgia that follow. This poetry book explores the relationship between the human and natural world the relationship between art and poetry the relationship we have with the past and our relationships to things animals and ideas. Ultimately Relationship is a book of poetry about self-acceptance self-discovery self-love growth healing and the transformative power of heartbreak. In the absence of the beloved the writer writes the artist creates. The book is itself an art object meant to be held touched seen and felt. Styled like a medieval manuscript with gold leaf backgrounds natural figures and hand-typed poetry accompanied by watercolor art by Greenwood Relationship is an ode to the physical book and a commentary on our changing relationship to books in print. Just as a lost relationship exists in the past so does the physical book comment upon our increasingly digitized world. Weaving together myth medieval motif art and poetry Greenwood takes her readers on a journey through love and ultimately on a journey through hope.