Karen Swallow Prior, recently published author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me, shares her tips for hosting a successful book launch.
The Poetry of Riffraff
It’s not a new thing for a poet to take common everyday things, the riffraff of our lives, and use them to signify or explain something larger. Glynn Young reviews Stephen Cushman’s “Riffraff: Poems” with special attention to the unique ways Cushman makes something of the riffraff.
The Art and Music of “Four Quartets” by T.S. Eliot
“Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind / cannot bear very much reality.” Glynn Young recalls his first reading of Four Quartets, which T.S. Eliot wrote over six years, the last three poems during the London Blitz.
Our Favorite Poetry Books of the Year
Yesterday, we poured a steamy cup of spiced apple cider and a list of our favorite books about poetry. As promised, today we’re serving eggnog and sharing our editors’ favorite poetry collections of the year.
A Winner for the Emily Dickinson Giveaway
Glynn Young announces a winner for the free copy of Kristin LeMay’s “I Told My Soul to Sing: Finding God with Emily Dickinson.”
Finding God with Emily Dickinson (and a Giveaway)
In “I Told My Soul to Sing: Finding God with Emily Dickinson, ” Kristin LeMay uses 30 poems to navigate the rocks of belief, prayer, and mortality. LeMay’s Dickinson is remarkably human. Glynn Young reviews this new volume and has a giveaway.
Poetry and Memory: Thomas Lux’s “Child Made of Sand”
“Child Made of Sand” is not the poetry of youth; it is the poetry of wisdom and understanding. Glynn Young reviews Thomas Lux’s new collection of poems.
A Giveaway Winner for ‘Prayers of a Young Poet’
We announce the winner of the giveaway for “Prayers of a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Rilke’s ‘Prayers of a Young Poet’ (And a Giveaway)
Glynn Young reviews Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Prayers of a Young Poet, ” a wonderfully engaging collection, adding new insight to both the man and his poetry.
Discovering Moons, Discovering Myself
I wanted to give you something of comfort: words like an armoire smelling of talc, lined with lace, concealing a ruby bracelet, tortoise shell comb. Words that melt on the tongue a communion wafer. wheaten and whispering of salvation… (from the poem “Why Write” by Judith Valente) I read Judith Valente’s Discovering Moons twice, once […]
“Finding My Elegy” by Ursula Le Guin
Le Guin has pulled together some of her favorite poems and included new ones as a kind of possible life or work summary, including “Finding My Elegy”…
Laugh and Learn to Write Fiction
There’s a new book on the street. (And in the pink limo.) The Novelist, a novella that will teach you how to write fiction, even as you get lost in a story of one big challenge, an elusive cup of tea, and a ruminating poet’s attempt to break free. “Hilarious protagonist, ” says one reader. […]
Poetry for Isaac and Ishmael
This is not the poetry of Mideast politics but the poetry of people – peoples – caught up in Mideast politics, whether the scene is set in the Auschwitz death camp or the Aida refugee camp.
“You and Three Others Are Approaching a Lake”
The title suggests a story or a riddle, implying that something is going to happen or unfold, or a challenge or competition is going to begin. I’ve never read a book of poetry quite like ‘You and Three Others are Approaching a Lake’
Kerri Webster’s “Grand & Arsenal”
The appeal of the poems in Grand & Arsenal is broader than only to St. Louisans. They are delightful, learned, approachable, historical and regional, and replete with literary references to Hawthorne, Lucretius, Ovid and even Agatha Christie.
Michael Ryan’s ‘This Morning: Poems’
A review of Michael Ryan’s ‘This Morning: Poems’
The Hearing of the Sea: Thoughts on A Broken Thing
When I come across a book as provocative as A Broken Thing: Poets on the Line, I know I will recommend it, but the question is… to whom
Alan Shapiro’s “Night of the Republic”
Poet Alan Shapiro loads his minds-eye camera with film (or, these days, a disk)
Tania Runyan’s “A Thousand Vessels”
A poetry review of A Thousand Vessels.
Dave Malone’s “Under the Sycamore”
Quick: name a contemporary love poem.