The Lost Novel (Paperback)

James Shea's second collection engages in lucid, perspicacious conversation with narratives public and personal, visible and unseen, the loss in the title cycloning out from Midwestern landscapes to histories and undertows and the "unorganized movement of time" that "bedevils us." A stunning, thoughtful follow-up to his Fence Modern Poets Prize-winning debut "Star in the Eye."

From "Moscow": "

We saw the legs
of a coyote run
past into the grass
during our eve-
ning drive through
rolling mounds
resembling kneel-
ing bison. Such
gorgeous hills
make one wish
to see the dark
slopes where
famous bodies
may be buried. . . ."

James Shea is the author of "Star in the Eye," selected for the 2008 Fence Modern Poets Series and named as a "Favorite Book of 2008" by the "Chicago Sun-Times." His work has appeared in various publications, including "Boston Review," "Colorado Review," "Denver Quarterly," "jubilat," "Iowa Review," and the Academy of American Poets' Poem-A-Day feature. His translations of Japanese poetry can be found in the "Iowa Review," "Circumference," and "Gin'yu." He was included recently in the Poetry Society of America's New American Poets series. He teaches at Nebraska Wesleyan University.