Bensel's Spoil is somehow both stark and lush, shifting from plain directness in one poem to entangling lyricism in another. That Bensel succeeds in both modes is a testament to her particularity and to her skill—qualities as rare as they are necessary.

– Shane McCrae, author of The Gilded Auction Block

These are earthy, pulsing, pungent poems, wise beyond their years, each like a nook in a curiosity cabinet. Upon peering through the looking glass of Bensel’s apt eye, I am altered.

– Jenny Molberg, author of Refusal

Critical attention for Rare Wondrous Things

"Rare Wondrous Things revisits Enlightenment questions of mortality and resurrection with a 21st-century sensibility. Bensel’s collecting, rearranging, and curating give new life to Merian’s story. At the same time, the poems document old orders that objectified and constrained. This book disrupts what I knew of Maria Sibylla Merian and makes me even more curious to understand her life and her work."

—Diane LeBlanc for Tinderbox Poetry Journal

 "What does erupt is nothing short of revelatory, both in Merian’s life and Bensel’s poetry. Bensel conjures crystalline instructions “to kill a butterfly quickly,” and the exquisite violence of such an act becomes a method of preservation. This seemingly unethical killing serves to “keep each / rare, wondrous thing / and have it never fade from sun // in its now still sanctuary.”  This creative mission reads as both Merian’s and Bensel’s [...]. Once again, poet meets naturalist in the vibrant space of the poem."

—Reuben Gelley Newman for The Ocean State Review

"Bensel’s work helps amplify Merian’s reemergence by giving her biography a unique voice—drawing us into Merian’s life of art through another form of art. Rare Wondrous Things is an impressive addition to the recent wave of exhibits, histories, and children’s books created about Merian. Bensel’s word-paintings encourage an interactive reading—so, at a time when people are still hesitant to venture into museums, let us continue the discoveries through Merian’s digitized portfolios at the Royal Collection and British Library."

​—Anna McFayden for EcoTheo Review