"Evidence that poetry is a mode of existence that people might share"
- Gabriel Furshong
- 16 hours ago
- 2 min read
It's always a gift when anyone gives you their time and attention, but it's especially powerful to benefit from the knowledge and experience of those who are experts in a field that you, too, have chosen. It's something greater than acceptance or approval—something more like an expression of faith.
The editors at Slapering Hol Press and the dedicated staff of the Hudson Valley Writers Center demonstrated a profound commitment to my chapbook Surrounding the Country a Chasm, a collection of poems drawn from postwar Guatemala, which ask the question: How can we bear witness to the suffering of others?
During the months-long editorial and publishing process, I could actually feel my own belief in this small family of poems growing because the SHP editors, Susana, Margo, and Mervyn, believed in them so deeply and also because they engaged in an editorial process that made the poems and the overall collection steadily stronger.
Few people ever stop to consider just how overlooked editors really are, but I know the difference SHP editors made in this case, and I'll never forget it. They were willing to interrogate every single word and discuss even the smallest questions concerning Ed Rayher's stunning layout and design. The result was a physically beautiful book built with images that shared a common purpose with the poems.
Beth Whitaker and the HVWC staff made every effort to ensure the book launch was a success, and because of their efforts, my reading at the Philipse Manor Railroad Station in Sleepy Hollow was a moment that resists simple description. The run of show was closely considered, Michael Quattrone was a superb emcee, and each introduction was written and delivered with care. My mentor, Melissa Kwasny, read remotely, but the technology had been thoroughly prepped, and several people remarked afterward that it felt as though she were in the room.
Such a long history of effort, grief, and hope is wrapped up in Surrounding the Country a Chasm that the opportunity to finally share these poems with people who recognized their value can't be easily categorized as an "experience," “event," or "moment." Strangely, the entire evening felt more like evidence. Evidence of the existence of goodness and truth. Evidence that poetry is a mode of existence that people might share.
I suppose this must have been part of Margo's original vision for the Hudson Valley Writers Center, to foster community in just this way. I will be grateful for these gifts as long as I live, and I feel inspired to follow the example of SHP and HVWC staff in my own efforts to build a stronger community of writers back home.
Gabriel Furshong is the 2025 SHP Chapbook Contest winner and author of Surrounding the Country a Chasm, now available on Slapering Hol Press.
