BOA Blog

Think poetry publishing is all about heartfelt discussions of metaphor and metrics while draped wistfully across chez lounges? Think again. Sometimes you've got to get into the dirt and wrangle with mega-corporations (say... I don't know... UPS perhaps?) just to get your books to a reading on time. Below is the one such tale of woe and suffering. In this case, we were shipping 20 copies of Carpathia to Cecilia Woloch for a reading in Paris. The story is told below courtesy of Cecilia's host Adrian Leeds.  [caption id="attachment_903" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Photo provided by UPS press room"][/caption] Dear Parler Paris Reader, My friend and...

[caption id="attachment_900" align="aligncenter" width="202" caption="Book of the Edge. Poems by Ece Temelkuran, translated from Turkish by Deniz Perin."][/caption] Here at BOA, we like to say that a book has been "born" when it arrives at our office. Of course, that is our own biased opinion and could be debated a hundred different ways. When is a book born? Is it born when the author finally finishes the manuscript and submits it for publication? After it goes through the editorial and revision process? Once it is typeset? Once it is printed? Or perhaps a book isn't born until it is read... Or...

[caption id="attachment_874" align="alignleft" width="167" caption="Chaos Is the New Calm by Wyn Cooper"][/caption] BOA poet Wyn Cooper is out on the road promoting his new collection, Chaos Is the New Calm,  (What? You haven't read it yet? Well, I guess we can give you a 10% discount on it if you order during our "New Website Launch" promotion going on right now. But don't tell anyone.) But I digress. Wyn's readings are always full of charm, banter, and lots of great stories from his fascinating life. Did you know that he wrote the lyrics to Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do" song? Yep, that was him. Musical collaborator with Madison...

Beautiful in the Mouth just received two rave reviews: One from the The Line Break which is described as a "poetry and wine blog." A poetry and wine blog? Sign us up for a lifetime subscription! You can read that review here [ Keetje Kuipers' Beautiful in the Mouth] [caption id="attachment_893" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Line Break: A Poetry & Wine Blog"][/caption] The other review comes courtesy of Gently Read Literature. GRL has quickly become one of our favorite review outlets - their reviews are in-depth, smart, and examine poetic concepts and approaches in ways that most reviews, quite simply, don't have...

[caption id="attachment_890" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Denver Post photograph of 14 year old Sarah Kaplan-Gould performing her poetry."][/caption] This recent article in the Denver Post takes an unflinching look at the hard truths, and bold opportunities, of poetry in the new millennium. It's a great article - and not just because BOA is mentioned by name. It's a great article because it's accurate and it covers topics that we think about every day here at BOA. Some might read this as a reason to throw up one's hands and say "Why Bother?" but we see it as motivation to keep getting the...