BOA Blog

"Society needs art more than art needs society. Art has always existed in nature, no matter what society springs up around it, but it's we who need art to make our lives whole." Matthew Shenoda has published two collections of poetry, Somewhere Else and Season of Lotus, Season of Bone, the latter, published by BOA in 2009. He currently holds two positions within the School of Critical Studies at California Institute of the Arts. The interview with Caty Gordon from The Minnesota Review, touches on everything from the evidence of Egyptian influence in Shenoda's writing to his passion for Reggae...

We’re glad to see that so many people have enjoyed and re-posted BOA’s A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize coordinator Albert Abonado’s interview of Sean Thomas Dougherty! Here is Albert’s next installment – an interview with BOA poet Barbara Jane Reyes about her new book Diwata. Barbara’s last book, Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish Press, 2005) won the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. Diwata was published this month by BOA and has garnered such comments as, “Diwata is a book that would have raised the hairs on the nape of Emily Dickinson’s head” (Nick Carbo), and, “Reyes...

BOA's A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize coordinator Albert Abonado recently interviewed BOA poet Sean Thomas Dougherty about his newest collection, Sasha Sings the Laundry on the Line, and the state of American poetry. Anyone who knows Sean's poetry knows that he doesn't pull any punches - he throws them. Dorianne Laux calls Dougherty "a poet of grand and memorable vision" and describes Sasha as "the gypsy punk heart of American poetry." Patricia Smith believes that "this book will be the one that stamps his defiant signature on the canon." Dougherty's last book, Broken Hallelujahs, delved deep into his family history, including being...

Anne Germanacos has lived between Greece and San Francisco for thirty years, writing singular and tragic fast-paced stories that pack a punch.  We sat down with Anne to get her take on writing, audience, and what we can look forward to from her in the future. [caption id="attachment_957" align="aligncenter" width="227" caption="Anne Germanacos. BOA fiction author."][/caption] BOA:  You've lived in two countries, cultures, and languages during your adult life.  How has this influenced your writing? ANNE:  I don’t know what I would have been without the experience of Greece and the United States, both, as well as Greek and English, cities, islands,...

[caption id="attachment_1038" align="aligncenter" width="241" caption="Barbara Jane Reyes. BOA Poet. Photo by Peter Dressel."][/caption] Critical Mass, the blog of the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors, is currently featuring Rigoberto González's interview with Barbara Jane Reyes about her new collection, Diwata (BOA, 2010). "You are right, in that Diwata does not primarily aim to critique colonialism or erase a colonial history, which is impossible to do. Rather, it foregrounds women who have resisted, survived, endured colonial invasion and dislocation. They have done so by being creative, by (metaphorically) shapeshifting, by passing down wisdom through the generations (through story, song, dance,...