BOA Blog

[caption id="attachment_287" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Karen Volkman. BOA author."][/caption] We are thrilled to announce that not one, but TWO, BOA books have been nominated for the prestigious Poets' Prize. Nomina by Karen Volkman and The Boatloads by Dan Albergotti have both been honored with nominations this year. The Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by an American in the previous calendar year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate a book and who also serve as judges. The Nicholas Roerich Museum also contributes; the prize...

[caption id="attachment_266" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Board member Glenn William and Melissa Hall sign annual campaign letters"][/caption] For the past three weeks the BOA board, staff, interns, and I have been signing letters, and stuffing and sealing envelopes for our annual campaign. With book sales only funding 40% of our budget, the annual campaign is an extremely important source of funding for us. This year we are honored to have former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Charles Simic serve as our Honorary Campaign Chair. Charles Simic included the following note in our campaign materials: “I was delighted to join...

[caption id="attachment_247" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="BOA Honorary Vice Chair Boo Poulin's special BOA cookies"][/caption] Thanks to BOA board member John Roche for this blog entry about the BOA Holiday Gala. Below the entry are photos from the weekend festivities! Last Friday night (December 4) the Anderson Alley holiday festivities got off to a rousing start when the jazz group stationed outside the BOA Editions’ office was confronted by peripatetic musicians from a Civil War reenactors group, intent on jamming. And jam they did on a lively version of “Dixie”! Following that musical set, it was the poets’ turn. Four RIT students...

[caption id="attachment_228" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Goethe"][/caption] On Poetry Translation, Health Care, and Conversations with the Visionary and Deceased Have you seen a review of poetry in translation in a major newspaper lately? I haven’t either. Apparently, American aren’t interested in poetry from the rest of the world until the poet is old and bald or wins a Nobel Prize, but I wonder if that’s true. People love reading about the infra-realists in Bolano’s novels from an older Mexico City poetry scene. Isn’t it possible they’d also be interested in hearing about current poetry movements in China and Mexico, movements that reflect...

[caption id="attachment_83" align="alignleft" width="195" caption="BOA Open House During Holiday Gala"][/caption] This weekend is the big Holiday Gala shindig here at Anderson Alley. All four floors of the building are open and you can browse around, chat with all the artists, listen to live music on every floor, and - of course - get a start on your holiday shopping. BOA will be open both days and all staff and many board members will be here too. As a special bonus, we'll be hosting a brief poetry reading from 7:30-8PM featuring four talented young poets from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)....