Sarah Barnsley Knihy

Exploring a pivotal development in American modernist poetry, this book delves into the evolution of poetic expression and the influential figures who shaped its trajectory. It examines the cultural and historical contexts that informed their work, offering fresh insights into the themes and styles that emerged during this transformative period. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of how these poets challenged conventions and contributed to the broader literary landscape.

An assured and inventive debut, The Thoughts explores different manifestations of intrusive thoughts as part of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) before navigating through the twists and turns of recovery and love. These poems inhabit therapists’ treatment rooms, waiting rooms, and everyday documents, appearing in such varied forms as emails, research proposals and kids’ puzzles. Compassionate and at times painfully humorous, The Thoughts is an act of advocacy, giving voice to critically underrepresented experiences of illness through poems that are as peculiar and creative as they are arresting.