Monthly Archives: August 2015

White Space as Metaphoric Frame

Posted in August 22, 2015
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Jennifer Burd “Framing” has many connotations when we talk about art. We might describe it as a boundary that sets off a photograph, the silence that surrounds notes of music, or the stillness that informs the movements of a sculpture …

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Lines in Space

Posted in August 22, 2015
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What is the defining characteristic of poetry? That the lines don’t go all the way to the end of the page? That the words and their music launch us into another sphere of attentiveness and sense? Something outside the poem …

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The Miracle of Mercury—An interview with Joan Hanna

Posted in August 22, 2015
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Millicent Bórges Accardi Peter Campion, author of Other People and The Lions has said poet Joan Hanna possesses a unique “ability to portray, in high resolution and with evocative power, the people and places that make up a passionate and …

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Review: Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust

Posted in August 22, 2015
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Vicki Hudson Paradise Drive Rebecca Foust Winston-Salem: Press 53 Softbound, 114 pp 978-1-941209-16-5 http://www.press53.com/Award_for_Poetry.html The titular poem in Rebecca Foust’s Paradise Drive richly envelopes the reader’s senses, beginning the submersion into Foust’s exquisite collection of sonnets. “Roses blooming straight through …

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Review: Hominid Up by Neil Shepard

Posted in August 22, 2015
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Brian Fanelli Hominid Up Neil Shepard Salmon Poetry Paperback, 86 pages ISBN: 978-1-908836-95-3 http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=350&a=266 In some ways, Neil Shepard’s sixth book of poems, Hominid Up, feels representative of his body of work to date, in that the book contains a …

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Review: Scienza Nuova by Carrie Hunter

Posted in August 22, 2015
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Elizabeth Kate Switaj Scienza Nuova Carrie Hunter little red leaves textile edition, 2014 Stitched Cloth Cover, 20 pages http://www.textileseries.com/shop/scienza-nuova-by-carrie-hunter When I read Carrie Hunter’s Scienza Nuova, I feel as though I am hearing the voice of the little girl from …

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Review: Via Incanto: Poems from the Darkroom by Marisa Frasca

Posted in August 22, 2015
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                        Elizabeth Kate Switaj Via Incanto–Poems from the Darkroom Marisa Frasca Bordighera Press Paperback, 96 pages ISBN: 978-1-59954-076-4 http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9781599540764/via-incanto-poems-from-the-darkroom.aspx A dark room, as any gothic heroine will tell you, …

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The American Long Poem Goes West: Thomas McGrath’s Letter to an Imaginary Friend

Posted in August 22, 2015
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Charlotte Mandel I want to focus attention upon critical slighting of an American epic force in the poetry of Thomas McGrath, a self-styled political revolutionary born in rural North Dakota (b. 1916, d. 1990). McGrath’s 400-page long poem, Letter to …

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Seeing The Belle of Amherst

Posted in August 22, 2015
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Carol Smallwood It was my good fortune recently to view The Belle of Amherst, the Tony award-winning monologue on Emily Dickinson performed by Julie Harris. Dickinson’s poem about death kindly stopping for her gave me resolve to tackle writing about …

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Review: Waving Back by Gail Thomas

Posted in August 22, 2015
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Steven Riel Waving Back Gail Thomas Turning Point Paperback, 87 pages ISBN 9781625491251 http://turningpointbooks.com/gail-thomas.html Waving Back, Gail Thomas’ third book of poetry, impresses us with the achievements of a mature and adept craftsperson. In addition to admiring Thomas’ artistry, we …

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