Crushing It 

Click HERE for notes on the book.
Copper Canyon Press. Order HERE

“Darkly inventive… This is a careful, thoughtful book about the complexities of identity and the difficulty of words.” —Publisher’s Weekly

“Calista McRae’s new book Lyric as Comedy suggests that postwar American lyric poetry and stand-up share an affinity for abjection, ‘a sometimes searing embarrassment arising from something connected with you, something that cannot be subsumed or shaken off.’ Knox’s poetry performs this embarrassment of the abject in a spectacular way, while also grounding her performance in the particulars of what one might be embarrassed about. Think Sharon Olds on psychedelics.” —On the Seawall

“Knox’s poems traverse space and time to bring us a collection of poems which are both expansive and surreal as well as intimately autobiographical… The collection’s surrealist turns and twists allow Knox to explore not only the consequences of our choices, but a range of landscapes, individuals, and subject matters with her assertive and daring voice that makes for a fascinating read.” —The Arkansas International

“Knox crafts a poetic universe of friction, farce, and alarming revelation… Many of the poems are, quite literally, laugh out loud funny… Though Crushing It can be morbid, disturbing, and unreal, Knox ultimately grounds us in the knowledge that veins of tenderness and compassion run underneath it all.” —Lunate

“From the very first imagistic pleasure—a prehistoric conifer tree breaking through an icy lake, reaching a startling height, then falling as swiftly as it rose—Knox’s new collection brims with surprise… Self-deprecating, dry humor, combined with Knox’s wide-ranging imagination makes Crushing It difficult to put down.” —Women’s Review of Books

“Knox’s new poetry collection Crushing It is hilarious, disturbing, touching and more than occasionally profane.” —Iowa Public Radio

“Knox is uncommonly adept at breaking hearts—not by means of love, but by reminding us of what it means to be alive. Yes, joy and laughing are parts of it, and Crushing It brings those moments in spades. But the book also reflects the quiet sadness that has made itself comfortable in the American consciousness (especially in 2020).” —The Whale Road Review

“Crushing It has something for everyone: the book flatters the jaded, the naïve, and the in-between in all of us.” —Southeast Review

Read poems from the book
Best American Poetry 2020, Paisley Rekdal, Guest Editor
The Pushcart Prize XLVI: Best of The Small Presses 2022
American Poetry Review
Granta
The Kenyon Review
“Poem-a-Day” from The Academy of American Poets
Poetry

MEDIA INQUIRIES
Ryo Yamaguchi, Publicist
ryo@coppercanyonpress.org

COVER IMAGE
"Alamo” by Larassa Kabel from the series Any Minute Now. Colored pencil on paper, 44 1/2" x 31 3/4" (it’s gigantic).
More of Larassa's work is here

ABOUT THE COVER
Crushing It took me longer to complete than my previous books. Larassa’s drawing helped me understand what the book was about and what needed to be written. Of the horses in this series, I’m able to sit with “Alamo” the longest because it’s already dead—maybe even a ghost.