The poems in Katy Diddens debut The Glaciers Wake (Pleiades Press, 2013) are civilized and dignified and so are their surfaces: sophisticated soundscapes, pitch-perfect diction, a humane voice. And in The Glaciers Wake, we do, in fact, encounter poems that exhibit a high-level of competency as it relates to craft. And its certainly true that
Read MoreERICA WRIGHT Instructions for Killing the Jackal BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS 2011
As I waded into Erica Wrights first books of poems, I immediately became not only aware of my gender, but the event that is female, woman, girl, and child. In fact, gender that construction site where culture and biology come together to play out their destructive and creative collaboration seems at first to be the
Read MoreKEVIN GOODAN Upper Level Disturbances CENTER FOR LITERARY PUBLISHING 2012
Kevin Goodans latest book of poems, Upper Level Disturbances (Center for Literary Publishing at Colorado State University, 2012), directly challenges modern society in at least one respect: the poems exist as a result of humility, the opposite of boasting which our culture rewards. In the poems, were introduced to a speaker whose daily experiences which
Read MoreMATTHEW PENNOCK Sudden Dog ALICE JAMES BOOKS 2012
In Sudden Dog, the voice we encounter is a moody one to say the least. We find a poet who at times seems to believe the entire human project is stupid and I mean all of it. While at other times we meet a speaker so desperate for an authentic experience that he claws violently
Read MoreHelen Vendler on Emily Dickinson
Jenny Attiyeh’s ThoughtCast] When Helen Vendler was only 13, the future poetry critic and Harvard professor memorized several of Emily Dickinson’s more famous poems. They’ve stayed with her over the years, and today, she talks with us about one poem in particular that’s haunted her all this time. It’s called I cannot live with You.
Read MoreROSS WHITE How We Came Upon the Colony UNICORN PRESS 2015
With air-tight verse and talent for the surreal, Ross White invokes a sibling version of our world in his new collection How We Came Upon the Colony (Unicorn Press, 2014). By tilting our view slightly to the left, he allows us to ask necessary questions of the familiar. How entitled are we to our many
Read MoreRACHEL MORITZ Many Forms in Water
Born of a connection to Theodor Schwenk’s 1965 text Sensitive Chaos: The Creation of Flowing Forms in Water and Air, this collection seeks to inhabit that infinitesimal space left between water and that which holds it. Not everything that conforms to its container is formless— sometimes, like Moritz’s verse, a liquid will become a gas
Read MoreLEAH UMANSKY Don Dreams and I Dream KATTYWOMPUS PRESS 2014
At Chapbookapalooza, our headliner goes first.And here she is with a stunning collection of poetry that subverts pop culture by placing it in direct conversation with everything it hints at but is too shifty to engage outright. With Elegant and cerebral verse, Leah Umansky shows us in Don Dreams and I Dream (Kattywompus Press, 2014)
Read MoreJASON KOO Americas Favorite Poem CR PRESS 2014
In Jason Koo’s new collection, America’s Favorite Poem (C&R Press, 2014), we see a poet placing himself on the timeline of his art. This timeline covers an ethnic, geographic, and artistic lineage that pays homage to Brooklyn’s literary heritage. As founder of Brooklyn Poets, he extends his literary citizenship to offer community to disparate groups
Read MoreKENNETH GOLDSMITH Seven American Deaths and Disasters POWERHOUSE BOOKS 2013
Kenneth Goldsmith’s latest book Seven American Deaths and Disasters (powerHouse Books, 2013), a title taken from the series of Warhol paintings by the same name, is a classic book of defamiliarization. By transcribing the words broadcast in real-time by the media’s unscripted response to historical events, Goldsmith brilliantly drains these infamous moments of cliche. Choosing
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