Ann Fisher-Wirth is Mississippi’s Poet Laureate
Posted on May 15, 2025
PARADISE IS JAGGED, her most recent book; purchased one which Ann signed, and it has become one ot the OPEN AND READ A FEW PAGES books on my nightstand.
Ann Fisher-Wirth is a renowned American poet, scholar, and the 2025 Poet Laureate of Mississippi. Her work frequently explores the intersection of the natural world, social justice, and personal memory.
Synopsis of Paradise is Jagged (2023)
Paradise is Jagged is a collection that traces a life from childhood to old age, grappling with the beauty and inherent suffering of existence.
- Central Themes: The book explores the “jaggedness” of life—how joy and mortality are inextricably woven together. It moves between the “sweetness” of the world and its “burning,” refusing to offer easy reconciliations.
- Personal Loss: Significant poems address the loss of her father during her childhood and the later death of her sister, illustrating how grief sharpens one’s perception of life’s “effulgence”.
- Social & Environmental Witness: Beyond the personal, the collection bears witness to systemic cruelties, including the conditions at Mississippi’s Parchman Penitentiary and the ongoing degradation of the natural world.
- Structure: The volume is divided into five thematic sections that range from early childhood memories to reflections on environmental apocalypse and the possibility of grace.