Catherine Arra’s Writing in the Ether is given review by Susan Tepper:
“In this book, that is primarily poetry, Catherine Arra has written gently about disquieting issues that affected her as a young girl growing up in less than supportive circumstances. These are ‘seeking poems’, words trying to make sense and a shape out of her life, why it wasn’t ideal or close to ideal, despite that she deserved it to be so. Arra is dealing with the type of subject matter explored by poets such as Anne Sexton, but minus the wail. We can seek to understand why we were left feeling a hole in our chest without screaming this to the reader. In a short poem titled ‘Leaving Sicily’ Arra writes: “On the ferry from Palermo to Naples / I am the eyes and blood of my grandparents, an emigrant / clutching a handful of seeds, a small jar of honey. / I want to tell them I know how it was to leave or to stay, how / yearning burns in the breast like a volcano, reversed. / Love eats you, and this is the only way home.” The poet is a smart and gifted writer. She is also emotional, but in an unaffected manner, therefore these poems, and the subsequent short prose pieces sprinkled in at the end of the book, hit hard without unnecessary angst. The beautifully designed, mystical book cover adds to the experience of reading this book. Highly recommended.”
