BOA Blog

The next poem that Cecilia Woloch picked to share for Valentine's Day week is "Pantoum: le Jardin d'Isabelle" from Carpathia. Cecilia says, "The pantoum form provided me with a vessel to contain/convey a love that didn't fit the traditional parameters, but went far beyond them..." Pantoum: le Jardin d'Isabelle The love of my lover for his wife: his name being stone, the word for stone, and her name like a flower, Isabelle-- who has thrown herself into the garden this summer, made it a paradise. His name is the stone I polished in my mouth all winter long: Pierre, as...

In honor of Valentine's Day, we're going to share some love (or, in case of today's selection, "anti-love") poems from Cecilia Woloch's heartfelt & yearning collection, Carpathia. We also asked Cecilia to give brief introductions to the poems. As a special offer for this week only, we're also offering Carpathia for only $10 (shipping included)! To get this special Valentine's Day offer, just call 585-546-3410 (ext 13), and ask for Peter. Here's what Cecilia Woloch had to say about her poem "Anniversary": "I think of this almost as an 'anti-love poem.' It holds a moment for me -- luminous and...

[caption id="attachment_444" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Ángela Hernández Núñez. BOA poet."][/caption] On their website, the online journal Molossus describes itself as: "an online broadside of world literature. We publish original interviews, reviews, essays, reportage, & more. We reprint selected work, too. We publish interviews & reviews on a weekly basis, with a commitment to contributing toward the transatlantic and English-language diaspora dialogue. We are especially keen to review literature in translation & book arts editions of contemporary literature." Molossus has reviewed some BOA books in the past and we're thrilled that they picked up on our newest translation, Praises & Offenses: Three...

[caption id="attachment_369" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Naomi Shihab Nye. BOA Poet."][/caption] The "Poetry Everywhere" series features short poetry films of poets reading their own work, animated interpretations of much-loved poems, and celebrities reading personal favorites. The videos are produced by WGBH and David Grubin Productions, filmmaker Leita Luchetti, and student filmmakers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's docUWM media center. They are housed online at the Poetry Foundation's website: www.poetryfoundation.org Here's a wonderful short film featuring BOA poet Naomi Shihab Nye and highlighting her poem "One Boy Told Me". Watch the film here: [Naomi Shihab Nye Video]

[caption id="attachment_433" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Approx likeness of BOA copier. "][/caption] Like most organizations we at BOA rely heavily on our photocopier for our day-to-day operations. We love our photocopier and treat it with the utmost respect and reverence it deserves. We are constantly stroking its ego, telling it how much it means to us and that we could not possibly survive without it. We thought we had a “mutual understanding” that we were in an exclusive relationship. Our copier, it turns out, has other ideas. For reasons unbeknownst to us, it wants out. It has shut down and refuses to...