The Meaning of Things

‘Elaine Randell’s writing was jump-started early by the outpouring of experimental small-press poetry and publishing that accompanied the emergence of pop art. That movement drew attention to the art–life divide by reducing it to a sharp but casual edginess. The poetry associated with this moment adopted informal means to freshen its reader relations across the same frontier. Randell’s subsequent career in social work and psychotherapy has found her firmly on the side of life. The poems in The Meaning of Things, though making no such claims for their acts, are alive with the clear feeling, ethical tact, and rhythmical skill required to move rapidly back and forth along that borderline.’ —Peter Robinson