Zither and Autobiography

A reflective, eclectic mixture of poetry and prose.

Zither & Autobiography is comprised of two parts: the author's autobiography and a book—length poem entitled "Zither." Both parts of the book are concerned with facts and their undoing. In Autobiography, Scalapino explores her shifting memories of childhood—especially of years spent in Asia—experimenting with the memoir form to explore how a view of one's own life develops, how "fixed memories move as illusion."

Zither opens with a unique n...