Poetry Is Dead

Anatomy of Keys

August 19, 2010 by Leah Rae 

Down in Gastown is an antique store whose basement floor is home to a large bank of antique cabinets, each drawer of which contains a different trinket. There are magic tricks and hand creams and wind-up toys and soap and candy, but it is the process of opening each drawer, the moment of anticipation and errant discovery that is the draw. This same process can be experienced while reading Steven Price’s Anatomy of Keys, a debut book of poetry that explores the life of Harry Houdini. The discovery of each poem is like pulling out a drawer in a great cabinet of curiosities, finding within a bit of truth or fantasy about the legendary man. The power of the work lies in Price’s marvelous creation of verbs like “houring down the hours” or “soft feet ghosting the halls.” This, combined with his dramatic use of lists, and bold, prophetic statements such as “true faith comforts no one,” makes Anatomy of Keys a remarkable achievement.

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About the Author

Leah Rae’s work has been published in EVENT, The Antigonish Review, Room of One’s Own, The Claremont Review, Antithesis, and W49th. She regularly contributes to Geist magazine. Her work has been anthologized in From This New World and the Best of the Claremont Review and has been shortlisted for the ARC Poem of the Year contest. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing and Film Studies from UBC. She is the managing editor of Poetry Is Dead magazine.