Arts Fuse Reviews Cornelia Veenendaal’s Sky of Sudden Changes
We are delighted to share that Sky of Sudden Changes by Cornelia Veenendaal has just received a thoughtful and expansive review in Arts Fuse, written by poet and critic Jim Kates.
In his review, titled “Poetry Review: Sky of Sudden Changes — In Living Color,” Kates reflects on the remarkable scope of Veenendaal’s new collection, published by BlazeVOX [books] as the poet marks more than a century of living and a lifetime of writing. The review situates Sky of Sudden Changes within Veenendaal’s long literary history—from her role as a founding member of Alice James Books to her continued engagement with poetry, art, and memory well into her hundredth year.
Kates emphasizes the painterly qualities of Veenendaal’s poems, noting how many of them “take in the world through a distinctively painterly eye for scenes and sketches.” He highlights the book’s wide-ranging settings, from Boston to northern New Hampshire, and its deep engagement with other artists and writers through ekphrastic conversation. Throughout the review, Kates returns to Veenendaal’s attentiveness to color, light, and perception, describing the poems as works of observation, acceptance, and renewal.
The Arts Fuse review also reflects on the historical perspective embedded in the collection, as well as Veenendaal’s steady, confident language—poems shaped by decades of looking closely at the world and finding meaning in subtle, enduring change.
We are grateful to Jim Kates for this generous and perceptive reading, and we extend our warmest congratulations to Cornelia Veenendaal on this recognition of Sky of Sudden Changes. We are honored at BlazeVOX to publish this extraordinary book and to help bring these poems to readers.
You can read the full review at Arts Fuse here:
“Poetry Review: Sky of Sudden Changes — In Living Color”
Congratulations to Cornelia Veenendaal, to Jim Kates, and to all readers who will discover this luminous collection.
