Grace Cavalieri from the Washington Independent calls Dan Vera's Speaking Wiri Wiri "an exegesis on language and culture."-
"Vera writes so we know how it was for him, and that makes us more alive too. He makes story link to poetry so that it matters to others. He allows the writing to evolve voluntarily and doesn’t push to persuade; letting people, sights, tastes, smells do the talking…"
To read the full review, click here.
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Garrett Bryant from Hinged says that the poems from Brynn Saito's The Palace of Contemplating Departure sing.-
"Saito’s ferocious and confident voice guides the reader through both an external journey of our surroundings and internal exploration of the soul."
To read the full review, click here.
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Christopher Bernard from Synchronized Chaos says that the poems found in Ernest Hilbert's All of You on the Good Earth are "some of the most elegant poems in American literature since the loss of Anthony Hecht".-
"The poems tend more toward the demotic and streetwise, but never lose Hilbert’s strong imagery, feel for cadence, and rhythmic firmness. A wonderful release."
To read the full review, click here.
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Donna Miscolta calls Kelly Davio's Burn This House "blisteringly good poetry".-
"In Burn this House (Red Hen Press), Kelly Davio explores relationships—how they falter or erode, how time distorts the memory of them, how family bonds disappoint with their fragility and fallibility. Her subjects are brought to life with the crack of consonants and words that pierce with their honed edges…"
To read the full review, click here.
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Thuy Dinh from Shelf Awareness praises Burn This House by Kelly Davio.-
"Kelly Davio's debut poetry collection, Burn This House, smolders with doubt and misdirection. Cosmic yet controlled, her poetry recalls Faulkner's Barn Burning…Divided into five subsections that cycle from "Signs" through to "Judgment," Davio's poetry vibrates with ambiguity."
To read the full review, click here.
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ArielleYarwood from Lambda Literary Review calls Eloise Klein Healy's A Wild Surmise: New & Selected Poems & Recordings "a book that won’t easily be shaken from your mind."-
"How to let a reader know the way Healy can, in one volume, capture the verve and essence of Los Angeles, the history and cultural legacy of Sappho, and the vital dichotomy of love and mortality, while still leaving room to write about her dogs? Like this, I suppose: read this book. It’s worth it."
To read the full article, click here.
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Michelle Salcido from The Rumpus praises Kelly Davio's Burn This House.-
"Davio explores the erosion of faith, time, memory, and love with clear speakers who are unafraid to expose doubts and question the world…They speak in poems that sometimes pin us down like an older brother until we call uncle or whisper soft doubts into our ears, making us question our own mothers."
To read the full review, click here.
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Charlie Bondhus from Lambda Literary praises Dan Vera's use of language in Speaking Wiri Wiri.-
"…there is no gibberish to be found in Vera’s Letras Latinas-winning poetry collection. Rather, there is much to inspire awe and provoke reflection… Pleasing language permeates this book… there’s so much here to recommend Speaking Wiri Wiri, that it’s difficult to find fault with this wonderful collection."
To read the full review, click here.
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Dan O'Brien applauds B.H. James' ability to write "a very American story" in Parnucklian for Chocolate.-
"This story has the chaotic rumble of human beings in a jarring sequence of non sequitur dialogues that become the madness that is a current American family. What James succeeds in doing in spite of the chaos is being funny."
To read the full review, click here.
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Julie Swarstad Johnson praises Nicole Stellon O'Donnell's Steam Laundry for it's poems that "soar with rich figurative language and inventive description".-
"This unique debut collection presents not only images worth savoring, but a new voice notable in its commitment to shedding light on past lives."
To read the full review, click here.
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Joshua Mensch calls the sonnets of Hilbert's All of You on the Good Earth "gorgeously constructed and brilliantly executed" and perhaps most importantly "great poetry." You'll want to read this review in full: click here!
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Iris Law from TAB praises Brynn Saito's "luminous collection", The Palace of Contemplating Departure.-
"At times transparent and vulnerable, at others, sinuous with history and the breath of the supernatural, the heart of Brynn Saito’s first full-length collection beats dangerously, exhilaratingly, close to the surface. As it weaves its network of tales and voicings, we are confronted at every turn by the poet’s delightful knack for lyric surprise."
To read the full review, click here.
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Lindajoy Fenley from Chico Sol applauds Andrew Lam's Birds of Paradise Lost.-
"As I read Lam's stories, I wished I could meet people he had created. Each one was a multi-faceted individual. I emerged from the book — a labyrinth in which the past and future define the present — awed by a wordsmith who enriches his characters with history. Lam led me to new understandings."
To read the full review, click here.
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Rebecca Kuensting from Tottenville Review applauds Nicole Stellon O'Donnell's Steam Laundry.-
"As captured by O’Donnell, Sarah has pluck and grace, and an undeniable stubborn streak that resonates, even as her fortunes sour and the sobering realities of marital and economic discord dawn. Bleak yet bracing, this pioneering history ultimately delights."
To read the full review, click here.
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Karen J. Weyant from The Scrapper Poet chooses Kelly Davio's Burn This House as her "March Poetry Pick".-
"Indeed, if anything, these poems are questions — questions about both our physical surroundings and the spiritual world we may never really understand…In a year, where I have inundated with new poetry collections, Burn This House, will certainly be one of my top picks for 2013!”
To read the full review, click here.
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