Description

In Transit

by Teddy Norris

Teddy Norris has created a collection that is “moving” —literally and figuratively—through relationships and life experiences, through time and memory. As humans we are continually in transit, from birth to death to whatever may come beyond that. This has always been true, but perhaps never more so than today, when our society is so mobile, when change happens so quickly. In addition to our literal transit, we are also constantly traversing the timeline of our lives through memory. These poems examine birth, aging, and death; love and loss; change and risk inherent in living in the world. Although traveling through life can often be somber, even excruciating, Norris’ poems also acknowledge the joy and intensity of emotional connections; the wonder of the natural world; the mystery of time and space; the yearnings of the heart; and the tenacity of the human spirit.

Enjoy a Video of Teddy Reading from the Book:

Teddy Norris — A Featured Poet on The Poetry Box LIVE (March 2023)

 

Early Praise for In Transit:

The poems in this collection by Teddy Norris transport us with powerful imagery and emotive rhythm as we cross a continent of life experiences through intimate moments of connection. Whether with inner longing or loss, disturbing events, or the slow, silent death of a bee, Norris puts the reader “there,” as one living and acutely attuned to the story. We can feel the weightlessness of the bee as we pinch its wings between our fingers and place it on the palm. She keeps us in transit throughout this beautiful collection of straight-from-life poems while inviting us to pause momentarily to revisit or consider what we can all identify as the reality of living in our chaotic world. Through her fresh eyes we are gifted with a richness of seeing and provided with thought-provoking insights.

—Jan Groenemann, author of Woman Alone
and Creativity as a Life Path

Teddy Norris has created a book that dares to travel to dangerous places. Her intrepid poems take us where we fear to go: to aging, disease, and bittersweet desire; to school shootings, environmental devastation, and pandemic. We go there with Norris because she guides us so well, through imagery, music, and a deftness in lineation that coaxes us on. With her voice in our ears, we can face what we dread most or love most—the dying doe struck by a car or the friend pressing on despite cancer. Norris sets her poems in many locations around the world, but her true concern is to draw a faithful map of the trip we take from birth to death. In Transit is not the vain exercise in craft that so often passes for poetry. It is a needed book that compels us to feel just how vulnerable we are on life’s journey.

 

—Dana Delibovi, Consulting Poetry Editor, Cable Street

About the Author:

Teddy Norris is a poet and retired professor of English who holds an MLA from Washington University in St. Louis. She taught composition, poetry, and creative writing for two decades and edited a community college literary journal for five years. For eight years she served as a regional judge for Poetry Out Loud’s national high school poetry recitation competition. Her work has been recognized in local poetry contests, including the St. Louis Poetry Center, the Wednesday Club of St. Louis, the Springfield Writers Guild, and the Missouri Writers Exchange. In 2019 she was invited to read her poetry at the Piccolo Spoleto Sundown Poetry Series as part of the annual Spoleto arts festival in Charleston, SC.

Her poems have appeared in Adanna, Broad River Review, Flying South, Kakalak, Little Patuxent Review, Switchgrass Review, and elsewhere. Her chapbook Pillars of Salt was published in 2015 by Finishing Line Press. She lives in St. Charles, Missouri, with her very supportive husband and their two cats. The latter lack the attention span for anything longer than haiku and categorically refuse to appear in a cat video.

More information about the poet at www.teddynorris.com.