Sand Castle by Marion Shore, recipient of the 2010 Richard Wilbur Award, is a stunning first book by a remarkably talented poet and translator who writes with an easy command of the forms of poetry, a deft lyrical touch, and an exquisite sense of both irony and wit. The poems in Sand Castle, although very contemporary in their settings and language, directly address our most important human concerns, especially love and the loss of love. These poems are true to life, ingeniously crafted, and very often heartbreaking; and, when collected together, they comprise a remarkable first book by an important new poet.