"The author is a distinguished scientist in the Yale medical school, but her knowledge ranges far beyond the limits of science and embraces all of humanist culture. I also know of few contemporary poets who can so convey the wonder of human existence so close to its terror, and in a voice intimate yet elusive in its authority—that edges towards the visionary. The highest intensity, among many intensities, is to be found in her volume Fragmented, a sequence of poems for her late husband. They are among the finest poems of mourning I have ever read. A virtuosity of form and technique matches the intensity of the emotion in a stunning lyrical sequence."
—CLIVE BUSH: Professor & poet, King's College, London
from the Introductory Essay:
"Laura Manuelidis is not someone who writes verses — she is a poet by all the pulsation of her soul. There are some poets who have a subtlety, but don't have a passion; others have a passion but unfortunately at the expense of subtlety have lost all passion. She has a rare quality: her passion is subtle. I admire her lines: "If I were one stripe of a shirt / On the back of a man / Would I wrinkle Or would I smile / Between the angles of his scapulae?"
—YEVGENY YEVTUSHENKO: Russian Poet