Versifying | Collection Development: Poetry
Date: June 2, 2020
Library Journal features Tess Taylor’s Rift Zone and Felicia Zamora’s Body of Render.
News & Reviews
News:
‘This Is a Californian Feeling’: Poet Tess Taylor Captures Life on the Brink in ‘Rift Zone’
Date: June 2, 2020
Shortly before the state of California ordered its citizens to retreat indoors, I met up with poet Tess Taylor for a hike on a steep hill near her home. It was one […]
El Cerrito poet, NPR correspondent Tess Taylor pens new books
Date: June 2, 2020
EL CERRITO — Local poet Tess Taylor has recently released her fourth book, had one of its poems published in the New York Times and wrote an opinion piece for […]
A Reading List For The Social Distancing Era, From Poet Tess Taylor
Date: June 2, 2020
In a series, various writers share what have they been reading while sheltering in place. Today, NPR poetry reviewer Tess Taylor lists what is helping her to get through.
New York Times featuring Tess Taylor’s poetry!
Date: June 2, 2020
Poem: I Gave My Love a Story Selected by Naomi Shihab Nye
Zyzzyva’s “The Intimacy of Breath” Essay by Tess Taylor
Date: June 2, 2020
Here is the strange thing: I was already writing poems about the precariousness of California. I’d been writing them for ten years, since I moved back from New York and came […]
La Treintena: 30 Books of Latinx Poetry
Date: June 1, 2020
NYU’s The Latinx Project features two Red Hen titles: After Rubén by Francisco Aragón and Body of Render by Felicia Zamora!
Alta: Talking with Tess Taylor
Date: May 29, 2020
Tess Taylor’s poetry is a literary collage: an assemblage of the poet’s words and the ontology of California itself. In two collections out this year, Rift Zone and Last West: Roadsongs for Dorothea […]
Poets and Writers: Authors Reimagine Live Events During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Date: May 29, 2020
Still, digital events aren’t for everyone. Poet Tess Taylor is publishing two collections this spring, Last West: Roadsongs for Dorothea Lange, commissioned by New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and Rift Zone, […]
The Millions Must-Read Poetry: April 2020
Date: May 29, 2020
The Millions Nick Ripatrazone lists Tess Taylor’s Rift Zone: California: pastoral, urban, suburban—home to myth and magic. Taylor’s book is geologic in concept and theme, both panoramic and particular (her […]
Reviews:
Rebecca Chace’s TALKING TO THE WOLF reviewed in Booklist!
Date: March 24, 2026
“Chace’s latest (after Capture the Flag, 2010) is told mostly through flashbacks and is heavily dependent on what the characters are thinking as they navigate the final day before their […]
David Mason’s COLD FIRE reviewed in Washington Independent!
Date: March 24, 2026
“COLD FIRE is a revitalizing collection that burns off the dross from our tired, worn-out concepts of the world, restoring for us its inherent mystery and splendor.”
Laura Kasischke’s THE LIFEGUARD receives early praise from Foreword Review!
Date: March 24, 2026
“Flush with sensory details, the sprawling, immersive prose includes both extensive information on how a lifeguard wears her swimsuit and evocative active images.”
Adela Najarro’s VARIATIONS IN BLUE reviewed in Presence Journal!
Date: March 24, 2026
“It’s a memorable poem [IGUANA DREAMS], as are many in VARIATIONS IN BLUE, Najarro’s fifth book. She is, I think, still early in her career, one that will, I hope, […]
Khanh Ha’s THE AFTERLIFE OF A THREADBARE JESTER got a starred Kirkus review!
Date: March 16, 2026
In Ha’s historical novel, a former intelligence officer’s imprisonment in a communist reeducation camp serves as a lens for examining the Vietnam War and its lasting impact. It’s 1978, and […]
Laing Rikkers’ MORNING LEAVES: CULTIVATING A LIFE OF BEAUTY, MEANING, AND JOY reviewed by Kirkus!
Date: March 12, 2026
The author lost her sister at the end of 2019; soon after, the world went into lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, compounding Rikkers’ already overwhelming loss with a sense […]
Adrianne Kalfopoulou THE RE IN REFUGE, reviewed in World Literature Today!
Date: March 12, 2026
At the heart of Adrianne Kalfopoulou’s The re in refuge is the experience of crossing borders—primarily international, cultural, and linguistic but also erotic, psychological, and intellectual, among others. A Greek […]
David Mason’s COLD FIRE receives early praise in Poetry Corner!
Date: March 3, 2026
Each line is a steady and reassuring four beats in length, filled with words that help move the story along.
Helen Benedict’s upcoming novel, THE SOLDIER’S HOUSE, reviewed by Booklist!
Date: February 18, 2026
Full review to come March 1! “The characters’ journeys are candid and vulnerable, rendering a pertinent, rich portrait of displaced lives reshaped by conflict and its enduring consequences.” —Booklist
Amy Pence’s YELLOW reviewed by Kirkus Reviews
Date: February 11, 2026
Mysticism and science merge in the story of a Louisiana artist. Pence tells her story in language on the border between poetic and precious.