This Way to the Grand As-Is is a snapshot of Aaron Anstett’s career so far: the author’s own selections from six previous collections, from Sustenance (1997) to Please State the Nature of Your Emergency (2017), plus twenty-seven new poems. From the beginning, Anstett’s work has been driven by a restless attention and lyrical ear. He is a poet of surprise and wit and wonder.
Aaron Anstett’s previous collections are Insofar as Heretofore, Each Place the Body’s, No Accident, and Sustenance. Among other honors, his work has received the Nebraska Book Award, the Backwaters Prize, and the Balcones Poetry Prize, and he has served as a regional poet laureate, instituting a continuing program that places the work of local writers in waiting areas. He lives in Colorado with his wife, Lesley, and children.