Winner of the X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize
One of the very best collections ever to grace the Texas Review Press’s series. The poems are wonderfully fresh and closely packed, with a lot of superior music going on. A strong and varied collection.
X. J. Kennedy
These are strong, imaginative poems not afraid to take risks….Many of these poems remain in the memory after a single reading. An unqualified pleasure.
Rhina Espaillat
Toward the matter of truthfulness in the ways we live and against the glittering appeal of lies that promise us ease, Maker of Shadows takes the difficult road. Coben’s lines are deft and elegant, approaching revelation, showing us the way to sober beauties.
Afaa Michael Weaver
Joshua Coben is a lyric poet of the first order, which means he understands that there are moments when form must be sacrificed to satisfy the demands of language….Whether writing in syllabic, accentual/syllabic, accentual or in a jazzy modulated free verse, his poems are easy on the ear….His subject is no less than the internal and external landscapes of post-modernity, and he is more than up to the task both as a poet and as a trustworthy chronicler of the random dash through space we call our history.
Bruce Weigl
Joshua Coben 