Hey, Small Press! reviewed In the ice house, saying of it,
Kaplan’s first collection of poetry somehow straddles the fence of simple and rich. The poet captures the natural world, how the changing of seasons looks and feels, and how it affects the confines of society. The chill in the air, as Kaplan describes it, come out of the page. ‘Branches shiver in the music. / The ice cuts in the quick of things. / The frantic outside.’ It is a beautiful marvel of nature at its coldest, through ice storms and frozen gardens, while also subtly following the birds, perhaps the true protagonists of this collection, who ‘Rise before the sun, rise with / the sun, constantly.’ Kaplan attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop, is currently pursuing a PhD in literature and creative writing, edits and anthologizes numerous poetry anthologies, and has appeared in oodles of publications. Her poetry is radiant with a certain quiet wanderlust.