Poet . Artist . Photographer
Ronda Piszk Broatch is the author of Lake of Fallen Constellations, (MoonPath Press). Ronda’s current manuscript was a finalist with the Charles B. Wheeler Prize and Four Way Books Levis Prize. She is the recipient of an Artist Trust GAP Grant. Ronda’s journal publications include Blackbird, 2River, Sycamore Review, Missouri Review, Palette Poetry, and Public Radio KUOW’s All Things Considered.
“I saw how we, animals of surprise,
could shine, inhale the flowers and the wandering weather,
lead the meadow to water, and swallow every miracle we find
if only to save us from ruin, fill us with impossible wisdom.”
Books
Praise for Lake of Fallen Constellations (MoonPath Press, 2015):
"Some people get up every morning and go out into the world looking for God.
Ronda Broatch does this and gives us her field reports in poems that make us want to believe that faith and survival are one and the same. She is a poet to be thanked."
—Rebecca Wells, author of Divine Secrets of the Ya- Ya Sisterhood, Little Altars Everywhere, Ya-Yas in Bloom, and The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
"In a world of breadboxes and oceans, apricots and seabirds, we recognize Ronda Broatch's yearnings as our own. Even here, on the ledge of the 21st century, we're still seeking 'to get married to mystery'_an enactment this poet achieves repeatedly. It is the alchemy of the everyday, the gorgeously crafted poems of rivers, woods, and marigolds in which we become known to ourselves. This is a book to immerse yourself in, a book that has the power to transform
—Susan Rich, author of Cloud Pharmacy
"The richness and fertility of nature reverberates in precise, evocative, brilliantly-descriptive language throughout Ronda Broatch's Lake of Fallen Constellations. I recommend this collection to anyone who loves poetry, the natural world, and contemplation of our place in the universe.”
—Ken Bennett, author of Exodus 2022
Praise for Shedding Our Skins (Finishing Line Press, 2008):
Ronda Broatch dips into the natural world, Eden, and the landscape of the Northwest to bring us an assortment of gifts: a bear's tracks, a basket of figs, a spider's web. They are held up for us to delight in, with Broatch's talent for language, rhythm, and her metaphoric use of women's bodies illuminating each one.
—Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of Becoming the Villainess
Ronda Broatch's latest chapbook, Shedding Our Skins, is a sensual, meditative study of one woman's evolutionary journey. The poems are filled with transformation—from earth to human, human to animal, child to woman, and dark to light. It is a journey through ordinary days, meticulously rendered.
—Jenifer Lawrence, author of One Hundred Steps from Shore
Shedding Our Skins is beautifully crafted meditation on the soul, the home and the natural world where transformations abound in lines as crisp, fresh, and earthy as their Pacific Northwest setting. Ronda Broatch's poetry takes us from galaxies and the “shapes of quasars” to the speaker's own backyard, where there are "huckleberries no trail will find." Bear, coyote, eagle live seamlessly with plum dumplings and apples in this collection, where the feminine experience finds voice in moon, sandstone, and curve of body. When the poet asks, "do you taste the honey of my voice?" we can only respond, yes! as we turn the page and savor her next poem.
—Annette Spaulding-Convy, author of In the Convent We Become Clouds
Praise for Some Other Eden (Finishing Line Press, 2005):
Marked by lyric grace, Ronda Broatch's poetry unveils the sacraments that dwell in the mundane world of fish and bears, apple trees and clothespins, full moons and baked bread. By placing us in that border region where natural and human realms commingle, these poems offer abiding sustenance for the senses and the imagination.
—John Willson, Pushcart Prize winner and author of The Son We Had
In Some Other Eden, Ronda Broatch writes with grace, precision, and with words dug deep into the earth. We follow bears, peel apples and sample bread. Her poems guide us through the natural landscape by focusing on the details of "cutting Gravensteins," pulling “popweed or dandelion” or surprise us with unique ways to deal with the resident bear,"Fish & Wildlife suggest a Twinkie bomb." Broatch arrives to the garden of poetry with much to say and with a strong and authentic voice. She is a pleasure to read and whether we are "the fish in the bear's mouth" or following "the driven river," we leave this collection satisfied, completely "whole in this new ocean.”
—Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Small Knots
To purchase, click on the book image.