"Eloquent and indelible, these plainspoken poems are full of sharp observations, surprising turns of phrase, and tough compassion. They are intensely real, evoking people and places in postwar America, both the rural South and the rustbelt North. Like my favorite books of poetry, this collection is also a secret autobiography. One by one, the poems are very fine, but they link up to suggest a memoir that looks both out at the world and deep into the soul. It is hard to believe this is Keith Walker's first book."
– Christopher Bram, Author of Gods and Monsters
“The range of subjects, the variation of styles, the unforgettable stories, the lyrical focus: it’s hard to believe that All That Names Us is a first collection of poems. But Keith Walker’s mature vision bursts in full-force. It’s a relief to engage with a poet so absorbed in—and can articulate in such precise details—the totality of his life, the complicated cartography of his place, the complexities of his characters. Walker writes from inside what he has richly absorbed. His poems are faithful to his family, his fellow citizens, his teachers, and, like James Wright, to his empathy for the lost, the lonely, the rejected. They embody the full emotional register that glows with spiritual resonance and deep compassion: he listens to the voices “raging to be heard”…he “learns the secret language.” Ultimately, Walker’s poetry arrives at the too-rare understanding that “the heart has a shelf for everything.” This numinous collection expands the heart.”
– Philip Terman, Author of My Blooming Everything
“Walker’s debut poetry collection looks, in part, to the past for reflective verses on life, loss, and human suffering….one that reads like a poetic family memoir, an account of grief and loss, a coming-of-age narrative, and vignettes of adult life and work. The book begins with childhood reflections and shares a raw, sometimes painful picture of an imperfect suburban existence in years gone by…. Rhythmic, thoughtful language contrasts gritty imagery of liquor stores, and factories, or of a deathbed….The final poems take a spiritual turn, reflecting on faith and religion, as well as poignant moments in nature, as in “Home Remedy for Writer’s Block,” which reflects on a pond: “Widening ripples / say something perfect / to something perfect / in you.” Walker’s works have a dreamlike quality, with images like scattered puzzle pieces, leaving questions lingering about the texts’ origin and meaning. As a snapshot of the Southern experience, with visits to the industrial North, the collection acknowledges the painful qualities of humanity while also holding space for the beauty of living.
Overall, this book flows like a river, one poem into the next, creating a whole narrative that mirrors readers’ own fractured places.
A deeply reflective set of poems….”
-Kirkus Reviews
“Keith Walker’s debut poetry collection, “All That Names Us,” has been a long time coming, ever since Portland’s former poet laureate Luttrel first published Walker’s poem “Girl at the Clinic” over 30 years ago. A revised version of that early poem appears in the substantial “All That Names Us,” one of over five dozen poems split across three sections (A Bowl of Feathers, In Need of Rain, and Reduced to Prayer). The poems are deeply felt and empathetic, and bring us into Walker’s life lived first in the South and later here in New England. I love a collection that feels greater than the sum of its parts, and the works in this collection are in conversation in a way that dazzles.”
-Josh Christie, Portland Press Harold
Published by Saddle Road Press | June 2024
ISBN:979-8987954195
Paperback $20 | Kindle $7.99