BOA Blog

  A Connotation Press review lauds two Spring 2014 BOA titles, Revising the Storm by Geffrey Davis and The Keys to the Jail by Keetje Kuipers, for "speaking some kind of shared, or at least complementary, language," and being "engaged in a very real, if coincidental, dialogue." Reviewer Julia Bouwsma writes, "Both Davis and Kuipers excel at rendering the physical worlds in which their poems were born." A defining characteristic pervasive in both of the poets' worlds is the language of shame. The review explores this theme, which connects the works of Davis and Kuipers: "I find myself wanting to study...

Poetry Everywhere with Garrison Keillor, a project airing on PBS, is expanding the poetry landscape with videos of some of the world's most beloved poets reading some of the world's best poetry. Included among these select poets are Naomi Shihab Nye, Lucille Clifton, and Dorianne Laux, all reading from their BOA publications. Each and every video is a masterpiece, and getting these voices into the homes and lives of the nation is a more than worthy cause. Produced by WGBH and David Grubin Productions, in association with the Poetry Foundation, the scope of the Poetry Everywhere project is to "expose...

The Culture Trip recently named Erika Meitner (Copia, 2014) as one of "10 Young American Poets Changing the Face of Poetry." She was placed alongside such highly acclaimed poets as Sandra Beasley, Michael Dickman, Camille Dungy, and Tracy K. Smith, among others. According to The Culture Trip, "Here you’ll find prize winners galore and poetry ranging in theme from the angry to the contemplative--the best young American poets writing today." Copia, Erika Meitner's fourth book, grapples with the widespread implications of commercialism and over-consumption, particularly in exurban America. Documentary poems originally commissioned by Virginia Quarterly Review examine the now-bankrupt city...

In a post from Beyond the Margins, Robert Thomas, author of Bridge, shares his perspective on the differences between composing poetry and writing prose. Beyond the obvious distinctions inherent in the genres, Thomas discusses the personal challenges he faced when switching from poetry to prose: "It’s hard for me to get beyond my inhibitions when writing poetry, but I can lose them in prose. In poetry I get stuck—'I can’t say that—it’s too prosaic'— meaning it’s too complex to be expressed concisely. I never think the reverse when writing prose. I never think, 'I can’t say that—it’s too intense or passionate or beautiful or poetic.'" "The...

Nickole Brown's forthcoming Fanny Says has been featured on NPR Books' 2015 Poetry Preview. Claiming that "we need poetry even more than 'more than ever,'" reviewer Craig Morgan Teicher recommends a list of 2015 poets that "offers plenty of the balm and fervor we need right now." Here's what the preview says about Fanny Says, out from BOA in April: "Brown's sprawling sophomore collection is a lyrical biography of and tribute to her wise and irreverent southern grandmother. Along with a memorable lesson in the use of the word 'flitter,' what'll stick most is this book's unknown 'word for all...