In Ruined Music the poet embraces the ruining with redemptive tenderness, fury, and humor. Divided into the four phases of any day-morning, afternoon, evening, midnight-these poems are alchemic, making of the ruin (relationships gone sour, lousy jobs, abusive religion, the burden of poverty) a testament to survival. These poems do what Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer said was his poetic aim: to be present, to use reality, to experience it, and to make something of it.

--Brad Davis, author of Trespassing on the Mount of Olives

Poet Valentina Gnup summons a full chord made from longing, grace, and awe. In this astonishing collection, we experience wonder and acceptance, desire and deliverance as if in real time; these poems breathe and dance. Deftly, Gnup sways with us through a songbook of the heart, hitting every note, the beautiful and the ruined. You will want to keep dancing, you will reach out for her long after.

- Brendan Constantine, author of Dementia, My Darling