"There's an omniscient beauty and wisdom in the intrepid music Ellen Hinsey distills from natural wonder, from spiritual anguish and bewilderment. With roots in Beethoven's most radical, futuristic composition, the Gro- e Fuge, Hinsey's The Invisible Fugue...compels as both existential quest and far-reaching cosmic aria. After her previous volume, The Illegal Age, which confronted the chilling unraveling of democracy in our imperiled era, these new 'mystical lyrics' (a decade in the making) arrive as a gust of splendid lyricism...The timeless poise and elegance of Hinsey's profound and sibylline project, enhanced by her masterly command of cadence and lineation-artfully crafted in the face of carnage, fear, spiritual outcry, and earthly chaos-is unmatched by any other English language poet writing today." -Cyrus Cassells, author of The World That the Shooter Left Us
"If a Fugue is something you hear, what is The Invisible Fugue of Ellen Hinsey's? It is a sourceless source, and this mystery-an 'unlikely coming into being'-is what animates the lyrics of this collection. I've read Hinsey's work for years, and every time the language and form feel constitutional, something upon which to be made, or unmade. The Invisible Fugue is no different: Hinsey looks for 'the fixed point of the unexpected' and manages to hold a tone both urgent and unhurried; fugitive and full of feeling; filled with knowing and filled beyond knowing." -Pdraig Tuama, host of Poetry Unbound
"Ellen Hinsey's poetry balances between a deep engagement with the socio-political world and a rich inner realm. This collection stands out for its distinct mysticism-yet remains non-religious-characterized by its restrained poetic diction, minimalism, and musical elegance. It's a stylized, empathetic lyricism of artful gesture...A masterful fugue of the via negativa."-Jaroslaw Pluciennik, author of The Courage of Poetics