Patricia O'Brien grew up in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. She received a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in teaching from Saint Joseph's University, and a M.A. in Contemporary British and Irish Literature from West Chester University. O'Brien's poems have appeared in Daedalus, The English Journal, Mad Poets Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts, Ink, Philadelphia Stories, and Philadelphia Poets. O'Brien won first prize from the John and Rose Petracca and Family Award for "Judy's Garden" as well as an honorable mention for her poem "Before It's Gone" from Philadelphia Poets. Her poem "Devon Drive" was reprinted in PS Books Anthology: the Best of the Best. O'Brien taught literature and rhetoric at Villa Maria Academy and creative writing at Penn State Brandywine. Currently she works as a care management associate for Aetna. She and her husband live in West Chester, Pennsylvania with their two daughters and chocolate Labrador.
Patricia O'Brien's precisely written poems in her brilliant new collection Catching Fire remind us of how "continuously the world conducts a secret / symphony" and the poet urges us to "attend it before it's gone, / gone by." The world O'Brien describes is rich with immediacy-a tree man "knew the conversation of trees. / Gazing up at the constellation of leaves / and limbs with monastic absorption." In the poem "Judy's Garden" we read that "she says while digging furrows / she plants her fears, puts in prayers / and her voice, so no green goes unsung / in this garden, this open hymnal." This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to live inside poetry's healing power. Leah Maines, best-selling, award-winning author, editor and actor
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