BOA Blog

In its new January/February issue, World Literature Today (WLT) placed recent translation Light and Heavy Things on its list of "Nota Benes." WLT calls the Pakistani collection "remarkable in its combination of simplicity and achingly beautiful imagery." Light and Heavy Things carries poems by Zeeshan Sahil, translated by Christopher Kennedy, Mi Ditmar, and Faisal Siddiqui. "War and poor health besieged the Pakistani poet Zeeshan Sahil (1961–2008), but his spirit continues to shine brightly through these poems, illuminating a path of steadfast hope and affirmation of life." See WLT's full list of Nota Bene honorees, here. Visit the BOA Bookstore to...

According to a recent Rain Taxi review, in which Hugh Martin is likened to Brian Turner (Here, Bullet), "The Stick Soldiers deserves a wide audience. It has much to tell us about the cost of war on our veterans." Reviewer John Bradley notes Martin's ability to speak to his audience with weight. "'They lip-sync / through cigarettes, blow breaths of smoke at the sky, / hold their loaded Kalishnikovs / against their bodies, a hand on the butt, / a hand on the muzzle, and their feet shuffle, / their heads roll in slow circles; / they follow the rifle's...

According to a recent Brooklyn Rail review of Jewelry Box: A Collection of Histories, Aurelie Sheehan's new collection "catalogs, in part, the ephemeral treasures associated with love." "The book is written as if to disprove the fact that our trinkets are useless -- 58 stories that coalesce into a study of connection, a whole that becomes greater than the sum of its parts," says reviewer Carmen Gimenez Smith. "Sometimes dream-like, autobiographical, or poetic, the book resists mere categorization in favor of assembling a vivid collection of instances imbued with nostalgia and import." Using "messy intimacy" rather than dates and facts...

Jillian Weise's The Book of Goodbyes (BOA, September 2013) has been placed on --yet another-- "best of 2013" book list, being named one of Coldfront magazine's Top 40 Poetry Books of 2013. According to Coldfront, Weise's collection "examines the daily life and consciousness of a speaker with a disability willing to confront all taboos associated with sex, intimacy, identity, gender, and love." Weise is a braver soul than most. Taking on such subjects, she runs head-on into the realm of our discomfort. "The poet never comes off angry, and it is exciting to watch her recurring dismissals of banality. Instead...

Jim Daniels' new collection Birth Marks has seen much success since its Fall 2013 publication, so it's no surprise that the book has been named a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 by the Library of Michigan. Based greatly on his experiences growing up and living in the city of Detroit, Daniels' new book speaks directly to Michigan natives. For 2014, 20 books were selected, each celebrating Michigan people, places, and events. "The Michigan Notable Books Program helps to show what is 'great' about the Great Lakes State," said State Librarian Nancy Robertson. "It is amazing to see the quality of...