Novel Pictorial Noise by Noah Eli Gordon : National Poetry Series Winner : Paperback

Noah Eli Gordon's poems take the form of jotted notes in an artist's notebook (I was reminded in particular of Odilon Redon's). Each day one begins anew to weave the web, having moved a step forward (or sometimes backward) since yesterday's attempt. Thus each prose bloc, modified or modulated by the ghostly fragments that interleave them, sharpens the focus by which he "attempt[s] via the unknown to give grammar a purpose." The effort in itself is its own reward, and a prodigal one.
--John Ashbery

An exciting new collection of prose poetry from an emerging talent, Noah Eli Gordon's Novel Pictorial Noise was a winner of the 2006 National Poetry Series Open Competition, selected by esteemed poet John Ashbery. For over twenty years, the National Poetry Series has discovered many new and emerging voices and has been instrumental in launching the careers of poets and writers such as Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Denis Johnson, Cole Swensen, Thylias Moss, Mark Levine, and Dionisio Martinez.