Book Review: Gorilla, Christine Hamm Poetry Collection: Gorilla, Christine Hamm Blog Tour August 18, 2021 Gorilla is a collection of poems that may deserve some kind of warning label. I am thinking of the kind that get posted at swimming pools. “Do not run.” “Deep end.” “No diving.” Author Christine Hamm presents a challenging […]
Book Review: Inside Out: Poems on Writing and Reading Poems, Marjorie Maddox Poetry/Nonfiction: Inside Out: Poems on Writing and Reading Poems, Marjorie Maddox Inside Out is absolutely delightful. I truly wish that someone had written this book 40 years ago when I was in junior high school. Of course, Marjorie Maddox was not […]
Book Review: Tricks of Light, Thaddeus Rutkowski Poetry: Tricks of Light, Thaddeus Rutkowski There are some problems that cannot be solved in any amount of time, no matter how one tries to fix them. The above quote is from the poem No Fix, part of the collection of poems that make up the forthcoming […]
Book Review: American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, Terrance Hayes Poetry: American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, Terrance Hayes I will admit that I have been preparing for social distancing for years. Long before it became trendy with the arrival of a pandemic, I was the person who would be […]
Book Review: The Lost Words, Robert MacFarlane (author) and Jackie Morris (illustrator) Poetry: The Lost Words, Robert MacFarlane & Jackie Morris A hank of rope in the late hot sun; a curl of bark; a six, an eight: For adder is as adder basks. When a recent edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary was released, […]
Author Spotlight: Joy Harjo, 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States Poetry: The Woman Who Fell from the Sky, Joy Harjo Poetry: Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, Joy Harjo This autumn, Joy Harjo will begin her term as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. She is the first Native American to […]
Book Review: Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation, Marjorie Maddox Poetry: Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation, Marjorie Maddox Poetry can slice deeply into the human heart and leave it open and vulnerable. When the poems involve an actual heart transplant, that truism may be more accurate than ever. Marjorie Maddox’s collection of poems, Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation, reflects on her father’s […]
Book Review: Martin Rising: Requiem for a King, Words by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Illustrations by Brian Pinkney Poetry: Martin Rising: Requiem for a King, Andrea Davis Pinkney Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Three days later, I turned two years old. I only say that to put my age into […]
Book Review: I lost summer somewhere, Sarah Russell Poetry: I lost summer somewhere, Sarah Russell Local (State College, PA) poet Sarah Russell has given us a collection of poems that are heartfelt and moving. I lost summer somewhere is poignant, elegant, and sometimes emotionally raw. Reading it drew me into a world of love and […]
Book Review: Mother Love, Rita Dove Poetry: Mother Love, Rita Dove Rita Dove served as US Poet Laureate in the 1990s. Her collection of sonnets, Mother Love, was written at the end of her tenure in that post. It is a powerful collection inspired by the myth of Persephone. Dove’s speaker sometimes is Persephone, […]
