unpacking by Isabel Duffy -LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE AWARD!

The nucleus of this piece began as an experimentation in form. As I worked on the models, I realized the action of folding and unfolding would be well-suited for talking about moving back and forth between two places. For all of the years I spent in college, I lived in a different city from my partner. During the summer I would return for a couple of months and try to slip back into our relationship, only to pack up and leave once more soon after. The experience created a sensation of constant motion, always headed somewhere other than where I was. Some of the actions became rote, others remained difficult. In this piece, travel and distance are explored in the expanding and contracting form of the book and imperative text that urges the reader to keep moving forward.