BOA Blog

Guess who is talking about Craig Morgan Teicher and his latest book To Keep Love Blurry? Well, from the looks of it...everyone. If you haven't subscribed to Poets & Writers Magazine yet, now is the time to do it. In its current September/October issue is a fantastic interview with both Teicher and his wife Brenda Shaughnessy, who also has a book being published this month. Here is a synopsis of the piece from the magazine: "After navigating a devastating crisis, husband-and-wife poets Craig Morgan Teicher and Brenda Shaughnessy reflect on the fortifying powers of poetry and their commitment to their...

Tickets for BOA's 2012 Dine & Rhyme are now available. If you will be in the Rochester, NY area on Sunday, September 23, you will not want to miss this fantastic event! Dine & Rhyme is BOA’s annual fundraiser, consisting of a poetry reading and book signing by nationally recognized BOA poets followed by a reception, dinner, and silent auction. All proceeds from the event go toward the publication of BOA books. As an independent publisher, we rely on grant funding from public and private sources as well as individual contributions to make the publication of our wonderful books possible...

In the company of The King James Bible and The Collected Works of William Shakespeare, Kyle Minor of the Big Other places The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 on his list of the top 50 "Literary Pillars" of all time. The landmark volume (available now in the BOA Bookstore!) is ranked number 18. Considering that the list ends at 50, Minor sings (or rather, writes) the praises of Ms. Clifton in a big way, placing her collection among top twenty-five, above such writers as Ezra Pound and Kurt Vonnegut. Such an august presence suggests that Ms. Clifton has not...

Here at BOA we're prone to talking about the "BOA family" of poets, supporters, board, staff and loyal readers. That's not just blowing smoke either! For many of us, BOA does indeed feel like a big family of kindred spirits. Those ties can show themselves in many ways and they're always heartening to see... especially when poets in the BOA family find inspiration from their "poetic siblings." The most recent example of this familial feel can be found in new BOA poet Fleda Brown's discussion of longtime BOA poet Michael Waters' newest collection, Gospel Night. Fleda discussed - and read...

"On our first raid in Iraq, I bounded up a long staircase, turned a corner and found myself face to face with a young Iraqi woman cradling an infant. I nearly knocked her over, and she leaned hard against the wall to let me pass. A black abaya covered her entire body, and a white scarf concealed her head, only revealing part of her face: shaking lips, small nose, her eyes wide and white in the dark. The infant, wrapped in a blue shawl, was asleep. After lowering my rifle, I backed away, and ran onto the roof where the...