“Doyle & The Ersatz Life” – Essay about Caitlin Doyle’s Poetry

Caitlin Doyle (Poetry 2008) continues to garner accolades as an emerging poet. Her work has recently been the subject of an essay entitled “Doyle & The Ersatz Life,” written by the poet and critic Michelle Lewis. In her examination of Caitlin’s poetry, Lewis writes:

“Much has been made of her work with rhyme and wordplay, which she employs to heighten the ominousness of her subjects… But something more complex than wordplay is at work… Her true aim is something different, and serves a specific purpose: to examine the merits and dysfunctions of faux worlds (call them self-delusion, fantasy, or simply nothingness) that haunt and displace traditional realities… These mirror images bleed together, Escher-like and unsettling… Doyle is keenly attuned to the haunting counterparts to the authentic…” You can read the rest of the essay by clicking here.

Caitlin is currently in residence at the James Merrill House in Stonington, CT, where she will spend September on a fellowship as the Merrill House Writer-In-Residence. Her other recent literary honors include the Margaret Bridgman Scholarship through the 2013 Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and a finalist designation in the 2013 Ruth Lilly Fellowship competition. In addition, her poetry has been included in the just-released anthology and craft book The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop, edited by Diane Lockward. Caitlin has also been featured recently in The Irish Examiner with regard to her essay “Hungry Hills: Coming of Age as an Irish American Poet,” which was published originally in Cork Literary Review, Vol. 15.

You can visit Caitlin’s website at this link to read her detailed literary bio and to continue following her work. Congratulations, Caitlin!

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