Book Review: Country of Glass by Sarah Katz

By Gretchen Gales

Country of Glass by Sarah Katz is unsettlingly beautiful in both language and its harsh reminder of how fragile our systems are, from bodies to countries. And somehow, the fragile nature of both is explained in short, yet striking verse. 
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A deaf poet and disability rights journalist, Katz does not shy away from the trauma the body can experience, from birth and beyond. Praised by Ilya Kaminsky (Deaf Republic​) for its raw view of the world through several generations and perspectives, Country of Glass follows stories of refugees, siblings in a hospital choosing a gift for their father, the aftermath of an accident, and historical events. We travel through the history of our own fragility and brokenness, Katz weaving a compelling commentary of the glassy foundation of both society and humanity.

Just a few of my favorites...

The titular poem "Country of Glass" eerily reminds me of how many of us felt after COVID-19, like there was an invisible shift in our universe, a new timeline. It easily applies to personal relationships and timelines, the awkward break in what we once thought we had, shattered. 

In "Vow", our speaker finds their father in the ICU asking if they will love him despite "seizures, a moon egg face, [a] skull full of staples and blood." We feel the awkward silence, the shift in the speaker's universe at this change, concluded with a tearful "yes". 

"Portrait of My Deaf Body" shares an intimate moment with a doubting lover asking how they live (something any disabled person has experienced at least once). The speaker responds cheekily with, "I dress undress piss sometimes I eat," and continues with their mission. As a disabled writer, it was delightful to read the refusal to be "an inspiration" and simply be a lover and person living in the same broken place everyone else is,  experiencing it with another lens. 

I look forward to what Katz writes beyond her debut collection as a promising voice in disability poetics and beyond. 

Purchase Country of Glass directly from Gallaudet University Press here.