“Nine Hours from Oswego takes us far, not just in place, but in time, memory, family, religion, and identity. The poems move from childhood to motherhood, and travel back to poodle socks or forward to the edge of unexplored continents. In short, Elaine Schear presents a wide world. Her poems have so many facets, each reader is bound to find their own points of connection. It is a much more capacious book than its 36 pages suggest, rich and ripe with life.”
Liz Rosenberg, The Lily Poems

“Elaine Schear's first collection is fresh and strong. Rooted in domestic soil, bright new imagery makes common themes in these poems shine anew. This mature narrator also confronts parental decline, and its accidental cruelties... poems about her daughters are tender and invigorating. Her angles of approach are different and acute. In the prose poem 'In War / the Dog,' historical catastrophes are revalued up close through a dog's experience that brings us, first to Sobibor, 1942 ('Once I rode in a boxcar'), then Viet Nam, and Abu Ghraib, in which the blunt, 'Fear is my job' says more than a human could. This is a book that will not disappoint. It will shock and sadden, and the reader is never an inch from a unique vision, and the human heart within.”
Suzanne Berger, These Rooms

“Vivid language characterizes Elaine Schear's images and perceptions. A pregnant woman shows off 'the belly of success.' A soldier sleeps 'in his helmet, stupefied, grit-mouthed.' Speaking of her daughter, a mother declares 'She is happiest now above tree line.' I admire Schear's sharp intelligence and wit, her astute commentary on family and the griefs that come to us all.”
Robin Becker, Domain of Perfect Affection