Human character and human destiny-will and fate-pervade Ellen Voigt's work, giving her poems of relationship, her exploration of an individual past, rare depth and power. Now, in her fourth collection, a sustained meditation infuses the work, examining the myth of self, the human compulsion to remedy or augment fortune, and the limits of "what's given and what's made from luck and will." Where will and fate collide is what chiefly occupies Voigt.

Ellen Bryant Voigt is the author of eight volumes of poetry, including Messenger, a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her numerous honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur foundations. She lives in Vermont and Minnesota.