Laws & Locks by Chad Campbell

Beginning with the arrival of the Campbell clan in Canada in 1827— “pale Scot farmers fording the river, / seated backwards in refusal”—Laws & Locks tracks the history of one family’s struggle with depression, madness and mental illness. Chad Campbell’s first book of poetry is a brilliant investigation, at once dazzling and unflinching, into the way our predecessors bear on our choices in the present, and how present-day consequences extend backwards in time. A skilled, self-possessed and clear-eyed poet, Campbell has produced a work of art that, while not quite confessional, transforms the private, dark, often stigmatized regions of his life into powerful poetry. It is a bracing debut. “Come now to the burning forest / not burning anymore and feel / safe enough.”

Advance Praise:

‘Muscled and big boned as Lowell’s poems on his ancestors, Chad Campbell’s lines hold enough feral energy to carve a small farm out of the great hardwood forest. This work is just and transcendent. A marvelous debut.’ –Tim Lilburn

Reviews

“Muscled and big boned as Lowell’s poems on his ancestors, Chad Campbell’s lines hold enough feral energy to carve a small farm out of the great hardwood forest. This work is just and transcendent. A marvelous debut.” – Tim Lilburn

“One of the strongest books of poetry I’ve read this year, and easily among the best debut collections I’ve read in years.” – Robert Moore, The Partisan

“Imagine an image hitting the eye with rapid-fire description, as if it were projected through a television that allowed the viewer to delight in the flicker of each frame. This is the technique Campbell favors,” – Jim Johnstone, Carousel