Nan Ottenritter

Eleanor, Speak Nan Ottenritter

Nan Ottenritter's poems have guts. They dare to confront the evils of our time, to insist on history too many of us have forgotten, to face our mortality, and to fly as lyrically as Baryshnikov without fear of falling.

-James Penha, editor of TheNewVerse. News




Through a prism of artistes, heroines, and mother figures, Nan Ottenritter peers behind the drapes of history, grief, age, and survival itself. Familiar figures Agatha and Eleanor come to life from dusty pages, and we find new humility and understanding from Florence and Camille. Little Lincoln's mother catches us at our core, and the author's own battle with cancer catches at our breath. It is a book that celebrates the female, that alchemical mix of perseverance and grace with the potential to "raise a daughter full of sparks dying // on their way to the heavens." A book that will make you want to call your mom.

-Joanna Lee, author of Dissections and founder of River City Poets




Eleanor, Speak celebrates women, among other things-from Camille Claudel to a greasy-spoon waitress, from an oncology nurse in Boston to Notre-Dame de Paris herself. Nan Ottenritter roams history and observes life with equal parts intelligence, compassion, and restless curiosity. In her acknowledgments she thanks "the written and spoken word," noting "what an excellent puzzle it is to translate life into symbol and sound." Indeed-and how exciting it is to watch this poet emerge from her chrysalis, stretch her new wings, and take dazzling flight.

-Douglas Jones, author of Songs from Bedlam