Rebecca Wolff is the author of five collections of poetry, one novel, and numerous pieces of occasional prose. Her first book, Manderley, was selected for the National Poetry Series by Robert Pinsky. Her second, Figment, was selected for the Barnard Women Poets Prize by Claudia Rankine and Eavan Boland. Her third, The King, was published by W. W. Norton in 2009. One Morning— was published by Wave Books in 2015. Slight Return is out from Wave Books in the fall of 2022. Her novel The Beginners was published by Riverhead in 2011. In 1998, Wolff founded the influential literary journal Fence; in 2001 she founded Fence Books and launched The Constant Critic website. Wolff lives in Hudson, New York, where she has served on the City Council and works in community development, with an emphasis on affordable housing and green trades training.

• Contents1The character of somethingexperiment in voice and character #1Experiment in Divination: Voice and Characterexperiment in voice and character #3Experiment in Voice and Character: “In the absence of general literacyExperiment: Institutional CritiqueThe Narrative of Their Execution/The Execution of Their Narrative2On Sunday I Water the Plantsif I were more orderlyI am the _____________Objective Reality Can Take Care of ItselfLike all my enthusiasmsRaga You BetThe Big Pic is a Total Art ShotScales have fallen from my eyesThe Singing RevolutionThe Lens of PorcelainSlight Return3Corrective: A CompanionWhat’s with the arid groundcontext is everythingThat’s not how my imagination worksAusterity Rabbit CageWill you disassociate with me?Political AnimalsHalloweenThe supernatural4rock heartThis was almost more excitementThis = ThisThere is Nothing Like a Good ShitUp Close & PersonalCheerful whistling of the kettleWhy do you inspirePeak ExperienceOkay, soMinus the SupernaturalReincarnationsClass ClownI know what I’ll do I’ll pretend you’re deadI am always trying to amuse youYet another perfect example of how it’s not all about me 645Institutional Memory: check your headProtecting my interestsIn your recent campaign against meAn Insult to BiologyMy Lawyer Said That I Should Call HerI was, objectively, a happier person, when I was with you.Visiting Friends6Shame on you for thinking people can’t changeIf I wanted something exquisiteDear JenWhy don’t you go down to Florida and look for your daddyHow do you objectify the dayYou are perfect for meWas It HubrisIt’s like kissing a dead manWhy I am not a BuddhistWizard of the Western WorldStart A BookAnt Life

"[Wolff’s poems] are stylistic and tonal shapeshifters. Hip, contemplative, and dark and resistant to the hunky-dory, the New Agey, and the prescriptive, they’re unnerving, funny, and occasionally subversive."— Bookforum"Wolff's [poetry has] nervy, controlled lyric bursts....Nearing yet swerving from bathos, [she is a poet with] a gift for shrewd summings-up."—Chicago Tribune"In a space where "It all happens so fast—/ ovulation, creation, cremation," a variety of poses, or figments, may seem all that is left. Wolff's poems manage to make embracing them seem like a genuine possibility."—Publishers Weekly