BOA Blog

Isaiah Vianese of Rattle praises Ellen Bass' Mules of Love (BOA, 2002), calling it a "collection about love, family, and empathy told in (mostly) first-person narratives. Bass' voice in these poems is warm and kind, as she considers how to be caring and gentle." Vianese admittedly finds "comfort" in Bass' honesty, especially in her ties to love, sex, and religion. "Many of the poet's pieces focus on sex ... she sometimes uses the erotic as a way to understand larger questions about religion, love, and mortality. This use of sex as a lens for viewing grand subjects is best seen in...

BOA gives a special thank you the Lannan Foundation for helping us publicize Jillian Weise's 2013 James Laughlin Award win. Published this fall by BOA, a proud and longtime Lannan Literary Program grantee, Jillian Weise's The Book of Goodbyes won the Academy of American Poets' 2013 James Laughlin Award, the only second-book award for poetry in the United States. As recipient of the award, Jillian Weise will receive a $5,000 prize from the Academy of American Poets. The award ceremony will be held on October 25, 2013, at The New School in New York, NY. The ceremony, which will take...

Pam Sherman, columnist for the Democrat and Chronicle and Rochester Magazine, calls BOA Editions "one of the most renowned publishers of contemporary poetry in the world." A life-long admirer of poetry, Sherman feels lucky to be part of a community where poetry is celebrated in the midst of busy lives: "My rare poetic encounters these days happen when friends, much smarter than I, quote poetry on Facebook, or there's a viral YouTube video of a too-cool poetry slam... In my spare time I don't read poetry. I watch real housewives screaming at each other, which I suppose you could say...

Jim Daniels participated in his second Detroit Midtown Literary Walk on Saturday, September 21, during which he read from his new collection Birth Marks (BOA, 2013). In a Grosse Pointe Times (C&G News) feature, Daniels called the event line-up "particularly lively and impressive." The second annual Midtown Literary Walk took place at the Wayne State University campus in Detroit, Michigan, where some of the best regional authors of prose and poetry shared their own work. "As a writer," said Daniels, "I want to reach as wide an audience as possible, so events like this offer a great opportunity. I also enjoy the...

Photos by William J. Ingalls   BOA's 16th annual Dine & Rhyme event opened Sunday September 29th with "This has been another unprecedented year," and this feeling of success continued throughout the night as over two-hundred people took their seats in the auditorium of the Memorial Art Gallery. Illuminated by a small light at center stage, award winning poet Li-Young Lee sat with his legs crossed beside renowned sitarist David Whetstone. Their collaboration of poetry and music stunned the crowd with a unique and entrancing ambiance. As each poem passed by, the claps from the crowd became louder and louder...