"Juicy models of lyrical reasoning, [Shaughnessy's poems] bring together wordplay and rhetoric . The poems have a fertile restlessness. They don't settle into epiphanies but continue layering, swerving, branching, reconsidering . Her vibrant dives into the possibilities of [the self] invest it with multitudes . In the Shaughnessy multiverse, everything contains everything else, or has that capacity . Femaleness and iterations of feminism provide a framework for "Tanya." The collection can be seen in part as a version of midlife stock-taking, via odes to women artists, mentors, lovers, frenemies and former selves . Shaughnessy [traces] her own derivation and education through myriad mothers, stretching definitions of "mother" to include frictions, crushes, heartbreaks and inspirations that became part of her DNA .

Chief among the new book's many subjects are love, absence and loss: how to live with or without them . [Shaughnessy] writes about love as being "timelessness itself". This is a book in which the poet's ability "to imagine and to wonder/fiercely" never flags." --Amy Gerstler, New York Times "A probing, richly rendered collection of poems . a reflection on women artists as friends, mentors, and influencers.Shaughnessy relentlessly sifts and shifts through our image making, seeking clarity while recognizing that life is 'not a straight story or a jagged line.' Meanwhile, she celebrates the eponymous Tanya, wanting to 'repair the path between us.' A remarkable book achieving all its ambitions.

" -- Library Journal (starred review) "Shaughnessy's poignant latest (after The Octopus Museum ) honors the women artists who have inspired her own creative journey while delving deeply into memories of formative relationships . This generous and moving volume is a dazzling celebration of the mentors who spark creative life." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review).