Wrong Norma

Wrong Norma marks Anne Carson's first book of original material in eight years, presenting a facsimile edition of her hand-designed and annotated work. The collection includes twenty-five poetic prose pieces that touch on diverse subjects such as Joseph Conrad, Guantanamo, Flaubert, snow, poverty, and encounters with lovers, blending classical references with personal reflection and linguistic play. Known for her reticence, Carson breaks her usual silence to acknowledge the book's unlinked pieces, which she calls "wrong" because of their deliberate deviation from traditional form and narrative coherence. Throughout Wrong Norma, Carson wrestles with memory, grief, and the elusiveness of language, often highlighting the arbitrary and capricious qualities of words. The book features surrealist vignettes, dizzying anachronisms, and collage methods that destabilize historical and intellectual contrasts, such as Paul Celan’s complex relationship with Heidegger. Themes of loss, mourning, and the search for meaning permeate the work, alongside reflections on translation, politics, and the nature of self. The collection is both intellectually rigorous and unexpectedly accessible, offering a unique literary experience that is at once profound and playful.