BY JOHN CARTER JR
In February Lori Brack, author of Museum of Breath, launched her new book A Case for the Dead Letter Detective. The book, which can be read in one sitting, is a compilation of 24 short, primarily prose poems, about the dead letter detective, a character Brack created whose business it is to connect messages between unknown humans.
“Of course, some of his own connections and interruptions are revealed,” Brack said.
According to Brack, the book was started a dozen years ago when she was taking a course from poet and educator, Oliver de la Paz whom Brack says gives the best writing assignments. She wrote a poem with an image from a recurring dream she used to have.
“As I wrote about him over about 10 years, my goal became to see what else he would show me,” Brack said referring to the titular detective.
Brack said she was trying to discover two things in her writing of A Case for the Dead Letter Detective.
“How can I be honest about the detective through what he does,” Brack said. “And what can I learn about writing poems that relate to each other, that are part of a longer series?”
Brack dedicated the book to her father and sister, saying it took her years to understand where the detective came from. Brack said that the book and the detective were in part inspired by her father and his workplace that “enchanted” her when she was younger.
Brack said she didn’t intend to set up a narrative when starting the work but rather to discover a different path to and through a life that depends on moments and images rather than a narrative or plot. In discussing the first poem of the book “The Dead Letter Detective Listens for a Sign” Brack discusses the ideals surrounding delivered messages such as mail and emails saying things such as unopened letters or emails from a stranger are full of potential and excitement.
“Also sometimes trouble and burden, of course. Mail carriers and other workers who are responsible for connecting human-to-human requests and replies and refusals – it’s easy not to love them enough,” Brack said. “The mystery of this character’s obsessive work can be a metaphor for the difficulties of connection that we learned more about during this year of pandemic. I’m comforted knowing the dead letter detective is on the case.”
A Great Thanks to Lori Brack for the interview,
You Can Find her new book on Amazon