Through the Looking Glass

“Like a mirror maze, Cates’s latest collection pulls at readers’ expectations, carefully displaying what might be reflections of reality—but are as often reflections of our own assumptions—playing with the stories we tell ourselves in deftly concise poems.”

John Reinhart

“In a world that demands ‘sensible thoughts,’ Cates brings us through the fragile membrane of the mirror to a place where imagination and madness share a likeness no matter how they may be perceived from the outside world. So, raise a glass to the moon and take a bite from the shining apple, slowly take your time to reflect.”

Jean-Paul L. Garnier

“Anna Cates’s Through the Looking Glass is a delightful romp on paths of the haikai form, through kingdoms of fantasy. En route you will find nooks and crannies reflecting favorites like Carroll, Tolkien, the Grimms, and others, exploring fairy tales and legendary worlds. All along you will encounter outstanding speculative senryu and haiku. Her haibun and tanka prose set a new standard of excellence in speculative form poetry in particular, and genre writing in general. An enjoyable book, you will return to it, like I did, multiple times to rediscover and savor different aspects of the journey.”

Sangita Kalarickal