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Thaw delves into the issues at the core of a resilient family: kinship, poverty, violence, death, abuse, and grief. The poems follow the speaker, as both mother and daughter, as she travels through harsh and beautiful landscapes in Canada, Sweden, and the United States. Moving through these places, she examines how her surroundings affect her inner landscape; the natural world becomes both a place of refuge and a threat. As these themes unfold, the histories and cold truths of her family and country intertwine and impinge on her, even as she tries to outrun them.
Unflinching and raw, Chelsea Dingman's poems meander between childhood and adulthood, the experiences of being a mother and a child paralleling one another. Her investigation becomes one of body, self, woman, mother, daughter, sister, and citizen, and of what those roles mean in the contexts of family and country.
Unflinching and raw, Chelsea Dingman's poems meander between childhood and adulthood, the experiences of being a mother and a child paralleling one another. Her investigation becomes one of body, self, woman, mother, daughter, sister, and citizen, and of what those roles mean in the contexts of family and country.
- GenresPoetry
82 pages, ebook
First published September 15, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 8, 2017
(3.5) Published via the National Poetry Series in 2016 (see also
Scriptorium
from 2015), this is a brooding, atmospheric collection full of stormy weather and the threat of violent loss. A father dies in a trucking accident; a mother struggles with mental illness; an unborn child is addressed with only tentative hope (“Can I give you tomorrow / when I’ve lost hold of today?”). I loved the book’s alliteration (“Retreating rock ruins my knees … roses running ramshackle” in “Prayer of the Wolf”), but found the metaphorical range a little limited – for instance, “blade” appears as a symbol four times – and the lowering mood rather claustrophobic. “Ancestry” and “Hiraith” are highlights. [The Grammar Nazi couldn’t help but note that “lay(s)” is used instead of the correct “laid” or “lie(s)” in about eight cases.]
September 24, 2017
Another book of poetry I have enjoyed where words carry you to other places and briefly trap you in their light.
There is much to enjoy here with ideas captured in bold similes and graphic situations. Full of the world of nature. The power of the weather, the vast sky and the changing presence of water.
Reflecting the seasons, and the harshness of life with the pain of relationships, loss and death.
I enjoyed a number of poems, but the quality here could mean my favourites will change on a second reading. The book falls into two parts and I will focus on part 1 to allow yourself to better enjoy the whole.
'The Last Place' stood out for me and I'll quote from others to give you a taste. A number of lines could illustrate my point but Chelsea's femininity struck in in these lines. 'Daughter, Released "That I have to find what comes from darkness before anything good can stay"; one from part 2 'Prayer for an Unnamed Child' "I want to be a man, forget my womb "; 'Borderlands' "...September's teeth in my mother's knees. " and 'In Ten Years' "she waits for people she no longer knows,"
And from the world of nature these great lines: ''Sirens' " I held the wind in my throats like a song" and 'After the Tornado, Summer 1989' "I scratch the mud soaked earth with a stick until it bleeds water"
My final thought is read more poetry please.
There is much to enjoy here with ideas captured in bold similes and graphic situations. Full of the world of nature. The power of the weather, the vast sky and the changing presence of water.
Reflecting the seasons, and the harshness of life with the pain of relationships, loss and death.
I enjoyed a number of poems, but the quality here could mean my favourites will change on a second reading. The book falls into two parts and I will focus on part 1 to allow yourself to better enjoy the whole.
'The Last Place' stood out for me and I'll quote from others to give you a taste. A number of lines could illustrate my point but Chelsea's femininity struck in in these lines. 'Daughter, Released "That I have to find what comes from darkness before anything good can stay"; one from part 2 'Prayer for an Unnamed Child' "I want to be a man, forget my womb "; 'Borderlands' "...September's teeth in my mother's knees. " and 'In Ten Years' "she waits for people she no longer knows,"
And from the world of nature these great lines: ''Sirens' " I held the wind in my throats like a song" and 'After the Tornado, Summer 1989' "I scratch the mud soaked earth with a stick until it bleeds water"
My final thought is read more poetry please.
June 19, 2018
To love snow is to admire water. Is to vanish twice. What touch Chelsea Dingman’s Thaw has gives disappearance a third act. The language here returns the ear and forms distance to the shape left by the soundless siren of the world’s slowest ambulance. Fathers leave early to chew the root of abandonment. Brothers clone themselves to play hide and seek. And mothers remain to curtain call skin. These poems story themselves in the staying power of travelogue, and are meticulous in their scrapbooking of absence. What’s more, with Dingman as both acolyte and guide, they invite loss to confront those its taken.
February 19, 2018
Thank you to The University of Georgia Press for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Are you tired of the snow, ice, and freezing rain? So is Chelsea Dingman. So grab a hot cup of coffee, and enjoy her first full collection of poetry: Thaw.
Dingman starts this 81-page collection of poetry by dedicating it to her father. The silver lining in this book is the concept of ice, snow, winter, etc, reflected in the title, Thaw. For the most part, I enjoyed this sweet collection of poetry. My favorite poems were “Billy”, “The Last Place”, and “Elegy for My Child”.
While there were many poems and specific lines that I adored, I found this collection to be a bit too poetic, sculpted, and perfected into neat lines. There is less variation than I would have liked. Within the collection, there are a few poems that are structured differently, but I would have enjoyed more interesting, surprising elements not only stylistically but content wise too.
Dingman sometimes takes her metaphors too far, creating too abstract a concept for the reader to truly grasp. I wish she would have stripped down her poetry to its roots. There were some poems and lines when she did this, but only brief moments.
Below are some of my favorite lines, where Dingman explores perceptive concepts in a raw manner:
“Like the camera, our eyes fail
to see what falls outside
the frame – twisted limbs”
“I draw across the petals of your flesh, bruised
blood rising in ragged blooms.”
“You wanted me
to beg, but I held my breath as I wanted
to be held”
“I understood
to be a good girl I had to lie
low like the aging hardwood floor.”
“I dream you
in a pink frothy dress, curls
wicked around your ears”
“My mother forgets she’s a mother
voices trickling down a drain
in a lockdown ward.”
“The first time
you feathered my skin with your tongue, I decided to drown”
Are you tired of the snow, ice, and freezing rain? So is Chelsea Dingman. So grab a hot cup of coffee, and enjoy her first full collection of poetry: Thaw.
Dingman starts this 81-page collection of poetry by dedicating it to her father. The silver lining in this book is the concept of ice, snow, winter, etc, reflected in the title, Thaw. For the most part, I enjoyed this sweet collection of poetry. My favorite poems were “Billy”, “The Last Place”, and “Elegy for My Child”.
While there were many poems and specific lines that I adored, I found this collection to be a bit too poetic, sculpted, and perfected into neat lines. There is less variation than I would have liked. Within the collection, there are a few poems that are structured differently, but I would have enjoyed more interesting, surprising elements not only stylistically but content wise too.
Dingman sometimes takes her metaphors too far, creating too abstract a concept for the reader to truly grasp. I wish she would have stripped down her poetry to its roots. There were some poems and lines when she did this, but only brief moments.
Below are some of my favorite lines, where Dingman explores perceptive concepts in a raw manner:
“Like the camera, our eyes fail
to see what falls outside
the frame – twisted limbs”
“I draw across the petals of your flesh, bruised
blood rising in ragged blooms.”
“You wanted me
to beg, but I held my breath as I wanted
to be held”
“I understood
to be a good girl I had to lie
low like the aging hardwood floor.”
“I dream you
in a pink frothy dress, curls
wicked around your ears”
“My mother forgets she’s a mother
voices trickling down a drain
in a lockdown ward.”
“The first time
you feathered my skin with your tongue, I decided to drown”
Read
October 8, 2020Thaw: Poems by Chelsea Dingman is the poet’s first published collection. Dingman teaches at the University of South Florida. She is originally from British Columbia, Canada. Dingman has lived in four countries and countless cities in North America. She currently resides in Tampa, Florida with her husband and two small children.
Dingman’s collection of poetry centers on the poet’s relationship as a mother and daughter. With that being said, most of the poetry was outside of my male range of interest being neither mother or daughter nor even a having a daughter. Despite the subject matter, I saw something amazing in the writing. Although appearing as neatly formed lines and stanzas, Dingman manages to work line breaks and stanzas in a creative manner. Several times, I saw a stanza end with a word, or perhaps a phrase, that seemed to end the line. Although it physically ends one line it also served as the beginning of the next. The single word performed a double duty. It is almost reflective in nature.
…Great pines resting their heads
against the sky. The colours
at dawn, sweet chill in the summer
grass before early snows. When I return,
…
— “Revenant”
“The colours” seems to draw the reader back the green of the pines against the blue of the sky and at the same time taking the reader to the violet, blue, red, and yellow of dawn. She repeats that again with the next line with a morning chill, even in summer, and summer grass.
Not all the poems carry that particularly feminine theme I mentioned above. There are poems of loss and death as well as poems that reflect a connection to nature. Although not particularly my type of poetry, the writing style and use of the written form kept me reading and searching for new discoveries. This is a collection where poetic form captured and held my attention rather than the topic.
Dingman’s collection of poetry centers on the poet’s relationship as a mother and daughter. With that being said, most of the poetry was outside of my male range of interest being neither mother or daughter nor even a having a daughter. Despite the subject matter, I saw something amazing in the writing. Although appearing as neatly formed lines and stanzas, Dingman manages to work line breaks and stanzas in a creative manner. Several times, I saw a stanza end with a word, or perhaps a phrase, that seemed to end the line. Although it physically ends one line it also served as the beginning of the next. The single word performed a double duty. It is almost reflective in nature.
…Great pines resting their heads
against the sky. The colours
at dawn, sweet chill in the summer
grass before early snows. When I return,
…
— “Revenant”
“The colours” seems to draw the reader back the green of the pines against the blue of the sky and at the same time taking the reader to the violet, blue, red, and yellow of dawn. She repeats that again with the next line with a morning chill, even in summer, and summer grass.
Not all the poems carry that particularly feminine theme I mentioned above. There are poems of loss and death as well as poems that reflect a connection to nature. Although not particularly my type of poetry, the writing style and use of the written form kept me reading and searching for new discoveries. This is a collection where poetic form captured and held my attention rather than the topic.
August 10, 2017
Chelsea Dingman offers us a series of haunting poems in her collection, Thaw, soon to be released by The University of Georgia Press. There is loss and darkness represented in these verses, as well as rustic and natural beauty. The description of the book rightly mentions place as a defining feature for these works.
Often the language is surprising and supplies some phrase or image that I would not have expected. As Billy Collins once said, sometimes poems just tell you what is inside when you read the title. Dingman’s poems, however, delight in that they provide much more.
Dingman arranges images masterfully for her readers, juxtaposing an apple’s skin, constellations, and family in one poem (“When My Mother and I Speak about the Weather”). This use of juxtaposition is displayed well in other poems like, “The Conversation,” where we encounter an unexpected sense of violence. It is clear that Dingman uses her craft to treat topics with an original perspective all her own.
Dingman’s words flow, as in the poem “Winter in Florida.” In this one, she writes, “Tracks in the snow sing/somewhere else, the cicadas/singing beyond our back porch.” The poet is, of course, the speaker and recounts what she has seen, often using some variation of the phrase “I saw” or referring to her open eyes.
As a lover of poetry, I am glad that this poet has recorded her observations and collected them in Thaw. Reading the book was an emotional ride filled with imagery I could appreciate.
Often the language is surprising and supplies some phrase or image that I would not have expected. As Billy Collins once said, sometimes poems just tell you what is inside when you read the title. Dingman’s poems, however, delight in that they provide much more.
Dingman arranges images masterfully for her readers, juxtaposing an apple’s skin, constellations, and family in one poem (“When My Mother and I Speak about the Weather”). This use of juxtaposition is displayed well in other poems like, “The Conversation,” where we encounter an unexpected sense of violence. It is clear that Dingman uses her craft to treat topics with an original perspective all her own.
Dingman’s words flow, as in the poem “Winter in Florida.” In this one, she writes, “Tracks in the snow sing/somewhere else, the cicadas/singing beyond our back porch.” The poet is, of course, the speaker and recounts what she has seen, often using some variation of the phrase “I saw” or referring to her open eyes.
As a lover of poetry, I am glad that this poet has recorded her observations and collected them in Thaw. Reading the book was an emotional ride filled with imagery I could appreciate.
July 13, 2017
Review: https://forloversofbooks.wordpress.co...
Thaw is a debut poetry collection by Chelsea Dingman, a collection about loss, violence, and poverty, abuse, and family. It is a deeply emotional collection, one that hits you right in the gut. Alternating between childhood and adulthood, being a mother and being a child, Dingman skillfully uses her surroundings and environment as a projection of her soul; her thoughts and herself are deeply affected by the different environments she finds herself into, with her mind working almost as a mirror of her surroundings.
Her line breaks do not necessarily follow her sentences, a characteristic of her art that separates her from other artists. Her themes, her narrative, even the way she chooses to show her story make her unique and irreplaceable. Dingman and her work made me realize, once again, how much I love free verse poetry. I actually believe it’s harder to write than regular poetry (the one that actually rhymes), and I find it much more satisfying. Its inner rhythms and pacing can be manipulated into making you feel angry, sad, even happy, nostalgic or euphoric. It has a certain strength and power within it that I admire, and I found Dingman’s work to be a prime example of modern free verse poetry. Definitely an artist I’ll keep an eye out for.
**An ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review**
Thaw is a debut poetry collection by Chelsea Dingman, a collection about loss, violence, and poverty, abuse, and family. It is a deeply emotional collection, one that hits you right in the gut. Alternating between childhood and adulthood, being a mother and being a child, Dingman skillfully uses her surroundings and environment as a projection of her soul; her thoughts and herself are deeply affected by the different environments she finds herself into, with her mind working almost as a mirror of her surroundings.
Her line breaks do not necessarily follow her sentences, a characteristic of her art that separates her from other artists. Her themes, her narrative, even the way she chooses to show her story make her unique and irreplaceable. Dingman and her work made me realize, once again, how much I love free verse poetry. I actually believe it’s harder to write than regular poetry (the one that actually rhymes), and I find it much more satisfying. Its inner rhythms and pacing can be manipulated into making you feel angry, sad, even happy, nostalgic or euphoric. It has a certain strength and power within it that I admire, and I found Dingman’s work to be a prime example of modern free verse poetry. Definitely an artist I’ll keep an eye out for.
**An ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review**
August 6, 2017
Thaw
Poems
by Chelsea Dingman
University of Georgia Press
Poetry
Pub Date 15 Sep 2017
I am reviewing a copy of Thaw through University of Georgia Press and Netgalley:
Poetry is one of the most difficult subjects to Review as they in the most cases by their very definition are personal, spelling out, thoughts and emotions.
This collection of poetry is raw and the poems herein tare at your very soul, some of these poems deal with the death, including the loss of children. It deals with molestation, suicides, hits and runs, this short collection of poetry is not short on its impact.
The books in this collection by Chelsea Dingman alternates from her childhood and adulthood paralleling her life as a child to that of her children, it speaks not only of sorrow and loss, but of determination and overcoming.
I give Thaw five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
July 21, 2017
Note: I was provided with an eARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
This might be one of the best books of story telling in poetry format that I've read since Diane Gilliam Fisher published Kettle Bottom in 2004. It was beautifully written, and I loved the change of pace from childhood to adult/motherhood. This book really delves deep into family issues such a loss, poverty, and even darker subjects that people sometimes prefer to skirt around. Her writing is exquisite, and I loved her descriptive way of really putting you into the moment. I would love to read more by this author in the future, and I hope she released future poetry collections down the line!
This might be one of the best books of story telling in poetry format that I've read since Diane Gilliam Fisher published Kettle Bottom in 2004. It was beautifully written, and I loved the change of pace from childhood to adult/motherhood. This book really delves deep into family issues such a loss, poverty, and even darker subjects that people sometimes prefer to skirt around. Her writing is exquisite, and I loved her descriptive way of really putting you into the moment. I would love to read more by this author in the future, and I hope she released future poetry collections down the line!
September 14, 2017
Highly repetitive, both in terms of the subject matter of the poems (car crash, dead child, abusive men), the voice (relentless first person) and even word choice (slits, Winter, leaves). They didn't have the feel of well managed repetitions, or repetitions with variation that you'd expect in a themed collection like this. It just felt samey all the way through, which was particularly unfortunate as the tone of the poems is rather uninspired and linguistically unthrilling.
All that sounds a bit harsh, the individual poems are perfectly competent 3 star poems. But as a collection this was a low 2 stars. Wouldn't recommend.
All that sounds a bit harsh, the individual poems are perfectly competent 3 star poems. But as a collection this was a low 2 stars. Wouldn't recommend.
May 17, 2019
Chelsea Dingman's gift for image and evocative language is on full display in this stunning collection of poems. I was pulled along on the thin and fluid string of time that moved forward and backward. The visceral grief, sharp anger always expressed through unexpected image. I will certainly return and reread this collection at some point.
August 26, 2021
Perhaps if I spent more than a brief hour with this collection, I would appreciate the themes more. As it was, the poems felt rather repetitive. All the same, I’d like to read more from this poet.
Sealey Challenge 23/31
Sealey Challenge 23/31
September 20, 2023
a poetry collection thick with atmosphere and full of personal history
“Forgive these fangs. How I kneel
for nothing anymore…”
from Prayer of the Wolf
“… It’s not restraint
that is feared, but being left
to burn. How a fire can
starve, surrounded by air.”
from Burning
“Forgive these fangs. How I kneel
for nothing anymore…”
from Prayer of the Wolf
“… It’s not restraint
that is feared, but being left
to burn. How a fire can
starve, surrounded by air.”
from Burning
June 28, 2017
Thaw is a truly lovely collection of works. The author eloquently refines our existence by empowering nature's blessings to describe and protect us.
July 13, 2017
Overall an effective collection of poetry. I felt like it really started with an especially strong poem and maintained a decent level of good writing throughout.
February 16, 2018
Strong collection that deftly balances between craft, intellect and emotional weight. Will be reading this collection a few more times. Look forward to reading more of Chelsea Dingman's poetry.
November 25, 2018
Here's my review of this lovely book:
https://www.usi.edu/sir/reviews/the-m...
https://www.usi.edu/sir/reviews/the-m...
December 29, 2023
So glad I picked this book up at random. What beautiful, wonderful poetry waited for me within.
March 15, 2019
(5/5) “I want / to tell you everything. How my greatest fear is leaving / my child behind. How, afterward, I ran from the world / like snow from the sky... There is so much I want to say to you, / but I choose to stay quiet like the stars / amidst the sky’s falling.” What a gorgeous collection! I suggest reading it in the throes of winter in a hot bath. Thaw has everything I like in a book of poetry: an evocative weatherscape, plenty of “s” sounds that cast a lyrical spell, and so much heartbreak. I underlined so much here. The longing is palpable. Mother, father, brother, and daughter serve as the axises for these poems backdropped by perilous cold. I admire Dingman’s imagery which is almost always outward (grounding, opening). Lots of attention here to the body, to the sky, to the stars. My favorite poems: “Amid Reports of Blizzard & Black Ice...,” “After the Accident,” “On Nights When I Am a Mother,” “Sunset,” “Daughter, Released,” “Immortality,” and “When My Mother and I Speak about the Weather.” Dingman is a poet to follow! I’ll keep this one on my bedstand.
November 16, 2020
Thaw by Chelsea Dingman has quickly become one of my favorite books of poetry. Dingman’s poems deal with themes of family, tragedy, and mythology, all amidst the cold of winter. There is an earthy yet mystical atmosphere throughout. I enjoyed every single poem in this book, which doesn’t often happen. While it’s impossible to list them all here, my favorites include “Felled Pine” (p. 5), “Epilogue to Drowning” (p. 47), and “Hiraeth” (p. 64). The word hiraeth is a Welsh word describing homesickness or nostalgia, feelings the poem embodies beautifully: “Deep inside a twisted wood,/water we could only hear/breathed cool air on our damp skin./I was lost then too.”
I also found many other stunning, nature-focused lines throughout the book. For example, from “Sirens”: “I held the wind/in my throat like a song” (p. 6). And from “After the Accident”: “I can no longer see/the pines, a stitch/of moon through their fingers” (p. 17). The words of all these poems continue to linger with me, several days after reading. I’ll be coming back to this book again soon, and I highly recommend readers pick it up to let the poems speak for themselves.
I also found many other stunning, nature-focused lines throughout the book. For example, from “Sirens”: “I held the wind/in my throat like a song” (p. 6). And from “After the Accident”: “I can no longer see/the pines, a stitch/of moon through their fingers” (p. 17). The words of all these poems continue to linger with me, several days after reading. I’ll be coming back to this book again soon, and I highly recommend readers pick it up to let the poems speak for themselves.
March 20, 2018
Estactic mourning
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2018
Thaw is Chelsea Dingman's inaugural poetry collection. In these poems, the author talks about violence, abuse, death, loss and grief; about family and childhood, about being a daughter, and about growing up and becoming an adult and a mother; about the hauntingly beautiful landscapes she travels through and lives in (against...?), across Canada and Scandinavia; and about country, citizenship and kinship. Her language is raw but streamlined, highly descriptive and evocative, drawing us into the poem and placing us exactly at its centre.
Not knowing what we are going to find inside, the first poem in the book immediately takes our breath away, beginning with the first sentence and carrying it on to the very last. And, I dare say, it sets the tone for the collection, while illustrating the strength of Dingman's voice, and its absolutely clarity.
I particularly like the way Dingman approaches her themes. Her voice may appear at first soft, and at times seemingly infused with an inner anger and deep sorrow, permeated as these poems are with the author's own brand of imagery, until you linger a bit more over the lines themselves, or the very meanings hiding in them. It is then you realise the strength in these poems' voice, and its amazing clarity.
This book is a journey through a life, and it shows: a life that has been lived the best it could, a life that has seemingly been a quest for meaning and closure, and which has had its ups and downs, its tragedies and its joys, its sorrows and its own measure of happiness.
Semantically, these poems are exquisite. I've read a few poetry books this year, but none like Chelsea Dingman's. Her poetry is extremely accomplished and evocative, and the metaphors will reverberate inside you for a long time after you read it. I was so haunted (in a good way, it's good - no, it's excellent when poetry 'haunts' you!) by its language that I decided to sit the review out and reread the book at a later date. Which I now have. And I feel exactly the same way about it. It's the highest praise I can possibly give: if you read one poetry book this year, please please make it Dingman's Thaw. You won't regret it, I promise you.
Not knowing what we are going to find inside, the first poem in the book immediately takes our breath away, beginning with the first sentence and carrying it on to the very last. And, I dare say, it sets the tone for the collection, while illustrating the strength of Dingman's voice, and its absolutely clarity.
I particularly like the way Dingman approaches her themes. Her voice may appear at first soft, and at times seemingly infused with an inner anger and deep sorrow, permeated as these poems are with the author's own brand of imagery, until you linger a bit more over the lines themselves, or the very meanings hiding in them. It is then you realise the strength in these poems' voice, and its amazing clarity.
This book is a journey through a life, and it shows: a life that has been lived the best it could, a life that has seemingly been a quest for meaning and closure, and which has had its ups and downs, its tragedies and its joys, its sorrows and its own measure of happiness.
Semantically, these poems are exquisite. I've read a few poetry books this year, but none like Chelsea Dingman's. Her poetry is extremely accomplished and evocative, and the metaphors will reverberate inside you for a long time after you read it. I was so haunted (in a good way, it's good - no, it's excellent when poetry 'haunts' you!) by its language that I decided to sit the review out and reread the book at a later date. Which I now have. And I feel exactly the same way about it. It's the highest praise I can possibly give: if you read one poetry book this year, please please make it Dingman's Thaw. You won't regret it, I promise you.
July 3, 2018
3.5 stars. Thaw is a soft, somber examination of family, identity and nature. Dingman uses line breaks in an unconventional way conscious of its medium. Its words carry weight, while still relatable enough to recommend for those otherwise intimidated by poetry. This egalley was obtained from Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews