BOA Blog

Ron Slate of On The Seawall recently published a new review of Mangalesh Dabral's translated collection of poems, This Number Does Not Exist. The thorough review offers some background on Dabral, including his refusal to accept the Sahitya Akademi prize he was awarded from India's National Academy of Letters."[Dabral] turned down the award and its cash prize in protest over the death of the scholar M.M. Kalburgi, a progressive voice among a cast group called the Lingayat. Dabral was objecting to a wave of intolerance and increasing violence against minorities and dissenters."Slate notes how the poems in the collection are...

Michael Waters's Celestial Joyride was recently included on My San Antonio's featured list of "new collections [that] are perfect for end-of-summer perusal.""Summer officially ends Thursday," starts the feature, "but we all know that summer weather will linger for weeks. Here are four new poetry collections that will stay with you like the last days of summer. These poets—all published by independent imprints—carry forth the excellence of the newest poetry."On Celestial Joyride, the review says: "Michael Waters’ autobiographical poetry looks back to memorable moments, which include his 6-year-old son: 'Is that a log or a dog? he worries. // The poem...

In a new episode for the Commonplace Podcast, host Rachel Zucker speaks with BOA poet Craig Morgan Teicher (To Keep Love Blurry, 2012) about his life and work as a "poet, critic, professor, and overall poetry-immersed figure." Teicher also discusses his forthcoming collection, The Trembling Answers (BOA, spring 2017).During the conversation, much of the focus is on "Teicher’s various roles in the poetry community, the poetry economy, and the glimpses into people’s inner lives that poetry affords. By delving into his past as an aspiring comedian and his eventual path to poetry, Teicher offers an insight into what motivates him...

We are very sorry to announce that Melissa Hall, our Director of Development & Operations, will be leaving her position at the end of December. Mel has been an invaluable member of the BOA team over the past seven years, and we will greatly miss her as she moves on to pursue new goals.Mel has served the organization extremely well. It has been our good fortune to have her many skills, expertise, good judgment, and amazing multi-tasking abilities in our corner for so long. We have always appreciated the fact that she not only gets things done, but she gets...

West Virginia newspaper The Journal recently published a stunning review of Stephen Dobyns's new book, The Day's Last Light Reddens the Leaves of the Copper Beech. Reviewer Sonja James has nothing but praise for the collection, saying: "All of the poems are unflinchingly beautiful as Dobyns explores the transience of life on earth. These are poems for those who respect honesty. Dobyns is a poet who is true to the script God offers a fallen humanity."The review details the collection's reoccurring themes of mortality and death, especially in Part Two, "Sixteen Sonnets for Isabel." Here, Dobyns writes about the recent passing...