Sarah B. Aronson, who was born and raised in Juneau, recently had her first poetry collection published. (Courtesy Photo | Sarah B. Aronson)

Sarah B. Aronson, who was born and raised in Juneau, recently had her first poetry collection published. (Courtesy Photo | Sarah B. Aronson)

Award-winning poet from Juneau follows her obsessions to her first poetry collection

Southeast influence can be seen and read in new book

Sarah B. Aronson’s road to a published poetry collection and a New American Poetry Prize starts in Juneau.

The poet, whose new collection “And Other Bodiless Powers” was published Nov. 1, now lives in Montana, but Aronson was born, raised and discovered her love of poetry in the capital city.

“In second grade in Mrs. Allen’s class in Auke Bay Elementary, she introduced me to poetry, and she actually wrote my letter of reference for grad school,” Aronson said in an interview with the Capital City Weekly. “It’s very much tied to my schooling in Juneau and my love of landscapes growing up in Alaska.”

E X P I R A T I O N B L U E S

Overtones of the first and eighth elements

bound in ice—the way cold lights itself

from within. I step with my full weight

into a world. Press boots into sediment, watch

impressions swell from the ground up. Crouch

to tally the silver hairs of lupine banners,

but cannot number the soft granules in clay.

Some species flourish, come back fervid

after fire. This is certain. I say I like how suncups

dimple old snow. But this year came tundra-

sprung. Permafrost huffing, a bluff charge.

Sarah B. Aronson

In the ensuing years, Aronson said she’s had individual poems published, but “And Other Bodiless Powers” is her first poetry collection to be published.

It was awarded the 2018 New American Poetry Prize. The annual award from the independent publisher New American Press comes with $1,200 and a book contract.

[Sticker criticizing the governor goes viral]

“I was completely floored and flattered and waves of self-doubt of course, but by then, it’s out of the world, and it’s not my decision, and it’s no longer mine,” Aronson said. “If somebody deemed it was good enough, I’ll take their word for it.”

Sarah B. Aronson, who was born and raised in Juneau, recently had her first poetry collection published. Juneau has a heavy presence in the book and on its cover. (Courtesy Photo | Sarah B. Aronson)

Sarah B. Aronson, who was born and raised in Juneau, recently had her first poetry collection published. Juneau has a heavy presence in the book and on its cover. (Courtesy Photo | Sarah B. Aronson)

Aronson said the poems in the collection were, for the most part, written over the past three years.

“There’s maybe a few stragglers from as late as five years ago, but really the heavy year ago was done in the last three years,” Aronson said.

She said many of the poems share common themes and are generally bound together by a shared examination of the environment.

“I think there are three primary strands,” Aronson said. “One is to Alaska and my home. The first half of the book is largely in conversation with Southeast Alaska and the glacier. The second theme is around maternity and what it means to choose to not be a mother. A third theme is around desire lines and desire paths and sort of the quickest route we take to get to where we want to get going.”

[Burlesque troupe comes to Juneau for local leg of tour]

Aronson said relationship with land and being in conversation with the land is important to the collection.

“Attending to the land as if it is a real relationship because I believe that it is,” she said. “Not just sort of a canvas on which we live. I think that really speaks to growing up in Southeast, because that’s what you are taught growing up. I think about Ernestine Hayes, the land is noticing you just as much as you’re noticing the land.”

Aronson said she would advise would-be poets considering putting together poetry collections or writing poems to take inspiration from the things they care about.

“The best advice I got during my creative writing program was follow your obsessions,” Aronson said. “Listen to them and follow them through. Let them speak to you and be open.”


• Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.


More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Feb. 1

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, Feb. 3, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

A sexual assault kit. (Photo from Alaska Department of Public Safety)
Gov. Dunleavy proposes bill to streamline Alaska sexual assault kit tracking system

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has introduced legislation to set a statewide tracking system… Continue reading

An aerial view of Nome on March 16, 2022. (Ash Adams/The New York Times)
Small plane with 10 on board missing between Unalakleet and Nome

A plane carrying 10 people went missing in a remote region along… Continue reading

Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich and his supporters wave campaign signs at the corner of the Seward Highway and Northern Lights Boulevard on Nov. 4, 2024, the day before Election Day. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
U.S. House passes two bills from Alaska Rep. Nick Begich

One month into his term, Alaska’s lone representative says he’s generally satisfied with how things have gone so far.

A free children’s dance concert produced by Sybil Davis featured story dances, rock n’ roll and jazz. This photo was published in the Juneau Empire on March 6, 1981. (Mark Kelley / Juneau Empire file photo)
Glide into 50 years with Juneau Dance Theatre at a celebratory gala

“We’re big enough now where we can offer something for everyone.”

Most Read