"Throwing the Diamond Hitch is at once a play, poetry book, a travel journal, a history and a western. Knotting together these forms, Ursuliak uses the particular — her grandmother and best friend's 1951 trip by roadster and horseback — to tell a timeless story of young women who refuse to be tied down by convention. Tough, tender, well-crafted and funny, this book poignantly captures the spirit of adventurous womanhood."  —Joan Crate, author of Black Apple

"This is a stunning debut collection. Ursuliak's thoughtfully crafted lines and the dance of space and movement within her poems are impressive. Fragments of photos and handwritten notes draw the reader into a tightly woven poetic and narrative tapestry. This fresh voice calls for a quiet reading and a listening ear."  —Kim Fahner, author of The Narcoleptic Madonna

"Throwing the Diamond Hitch follows two young women on a rip-snorting adventure by antique roadster and horseback through the Rocky Mountains. Drawing on first-person accounts and photos preserved in Phyl and Anne's co-written diary, Ursuliak constructs a poetic narrative of two astonishing women who smoke and drink their way through the mountains and who finish each other's sentences. Ursuliak's confident debut shows her eye for detail and ear for language. Her poems turn cowboy culture on its head."  —Monica Kidd, author of The Year of Our Beautiful Exile