consider the light by Kathi Crawford

Kathi Crawford’s debut chapbook Consider the Light is a memoir told in fragments, in cookies, in abandoned lots, in road trips, and in absences. Crawford offers an account of her life, presented, as she writes, with “the context and timeline/ripped apart,” but with every essential word in place. In evocative poetry and prose-poems equally likely to refer to rare flowers as take-out nachos, Crawford lets her readers peer through gashes and pinholes into her own life as she grows up, rides the waves of 70s and 80s America into and out of danger and stability, recognizes her own self-worth, weighs expectation and desire, and honors the signposts of her life. Reading these poems, you’ll hear Joe Walsh singing and see the bars where the poet danced, feel her unease and compassion at lunch with her ex’s wife, and want to shout “hell yeah” alongside her as she challenges her upbringing, the mores of her past, and the callousness of the present. I’m raising a glass to this collection and can’t wait to read more of Crawford’s work.

–Kendra Preston Leonard, poet, lyricist, and librettist, author of Protectress (2023) awarded a star by Kirkus magazine, Grab (2023) nominated for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association’s prestigious Elgin Award, and Making Mythology (2020)

Kathi Crawford’s debut chapbook, consider the light, hybrid memoir in poetry and flash, shines a beam into the liminal spaces of a woman’s life. The collection examines transition periods and disruptions as Crawford recreates herself and her future at each of these junctions. As the child of working-class parents, she muses, “I need to save my family,” but as she grows older and must deal with her own problems, she takes what she can learn from others, such as self-discipline from her beloved Nanna, while forging a fierce independence. Crawford’s distinctive voice and story take the reader on a unique journey while offering whispers of familiarity to many who have faced similar hurtles. You won’t want to miss this engaging new voice.

–Luanne Castle, author of Our Wolves, Eric Hoffer Award first runner-up 2024, and Rooted and Winged, Book Excellence Award Winner 2023

Against a backdrop of rust belt factories, then Big Oil high-rises, the characters in Kathi Crawford’s consider the light refuse to be consumed by the rules and the violences of this world. Full of inventive defiance and heart-forward brilliance, Crawford’s poems continually illuminate what happens after – after the less-than-ideal childhood, after the hasty move south, after the marriage that didn’t go according to plan, after the terrifying abduction attempt, after the party dies down. This is a book of creation – creating art out of chaos, light out of darkness – and love – the love of surviving it all. And just like a fire, consider the light offers both brightness and life-giving heat.

–Cait Weiss Orcutt, author of VALLEYSPEAK (Zone 3 Press, 2017)