As if she could not bear to leave it, Jennifer Sinor came into this spinning world twice, once dead and once alive, the first time born from her mother, the second, from a bucket, its silvery metal sides a poor substitute for the womb, yet enough. Through spare yet lyrical prose, Sinor threads together the story of how she learned to carry the bucket she was born into and reclaim all that was tossed away. In short, almost telegraphic, linked pieces, Ordinary Trauma reveals moments in life that are made to appear unremarkable but harm deeply. Set against the late Cold War and a military childhood spent amid fast-attack submarines and long-range nuclear missiles, this memoir delivers a revelatory look at how moments that typically pass unnoticed form the very basis for our perceptions of both love and loss.

Finalist for the 15 Bytes Book Award for Creative Nonfiction

Interview with Tom Williams at Access Utah

Jennifer Sinor is the author of several books of nonfiction including Letters Like the Day: On Reading Georgia O’Keeffe. The recipient of the Stipend in American Modernism, she teaches creative writing at Utah State University, where she is a professor of English.

Author Website