BOA Blog

As the Sept 11, 2012 publication date draws closer, interest in The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 builds to a fevered pitch. We know we've got the fever, and Publishers Weekly is right there with us! The collection received a starred (and glowing) review in this week's PW. Here are a couple of choice selections: "Lucille Clifton (1936–2010) was undeniably a major American poet; her poems, best known for their expressions of feminist ideals, African-American history and contemporary life, and intimate family life, cover a vast array of human experiences, as this surprisingly large complete volume attests. The average...

Ira Sadoff is already receiving sparkling reviews for his recent True Faith, just released this past spring! In "That's Where My God Is: A Review of True Faith," Anne Webster of The Chattahoochee Review has called Sadoff's collection "an unflinching exploration of himself and his life," specifically referring to his relationship with faith, mortality, disillusionment, and "the search for meaning." Webster goes on to describe the work's three sections, which move from Sadoff's childhood past and the factors that influenced his addressing of religion, to exploration of major events in his spiritual life, to "present-day influences and his resulting skepticism"...

A couple days ago, Minnesota Reader posted a review of Reindeer Camps by Bart Sutter. The author of the review, Mike Link, warns of the difficulty to write reviews of poetry, but that doesn't stop him from giving a thorough and honest rundown of the book that we'd love to share with you! The review discusses the book in its sections, or "chapters if it was prose." The first section examines darker things, the ones that "challenge our perspectives." There were certainly tons of quotes from the book, always handy with a line or two to support one of the...

We would like to celebrate the birthday of one of the world's most distinguished poets, the late Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936, -- February 13, 2010), who would have been 76 today. Born in Depew, New York, Ms. Clifton is the author of more than a dozen collections of poetry and more than sixteen children's books, written expressly for an African American audience. Though her list of awards and recognitions is staggering, even more remarkable is the love she has elicited from her readers. National Book Award and Ruth Lilly Prize winner, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist (in the same year!),...

[caption id="attachment_1832" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Teicher, author of the forthcoming "To Keep Love Blurry""][/caption] Fall is (distantly) on its way, and with it are some spectacular new collections from BOA! One such collection is Craig Morgan Teicher's To Keep Love Blurry, which was recently praised by Library Journal for its refreshing balance of formality and playfulness. Check it out! Library Journal writes: "The majority of poems in this new work from Teicher... employ form in the best sense of the word-- as a frame, not a crutch... When at his best, Teicher's poems are formal and--as a welcome bonus-- amusing." To...