book reviews
Reviews of the best poetry books, collections and anthologies; discover poems and up-and-coming poets across all cultures, genres and themes.
Books for when you can’t stop thinking about your ex
I just realized that Valentine’s Day is actually one of my favorite holidays, which came as a surprise despite the demonstrated fact that I am fully addicted to love – brief, timeless, imaginary, accidental, decisive, stabilizing, elusive, contradictory love! It’s both excruciating and delicious. Between all the red and pink wrappers around heart-shaped chocolates, mass-printed notes with cartoon characters or cliché expressions of admiration, and the shelves stocked with a Romance for every reader that I’m sitting next to (at Third Place Books) I can’t help but think about all the love I’ve felt in my silly little life.
By Joe Nasta | Seattle foodie poet4 years ago in Poets
Landscape of the Soul: poems in Spanish and English
President John F. Kennedy, well-known as a patron of the arts, famously said, “When power corrupts, poetry cleanses,” adding that art humbles the arrogant by reminding them of their limitations. (For more on JFK's views on art, see HuffPost https://tinyurl.com/57d52yxw).
By PK Colleran4 years ago in Poets
How do we remember love?
It was nearing the end of the night, a couple of hours after a small coffee with a splash of cream but one and a half until smoking a joint at the bus stop, when Emmy grabbed the book from the streetsmart poetry titles in the back of the bookstore and held it up for me to see: “A Hundred Lovers,” the second collection from Richie Hofmann. It comes out today from Knopf. I hadn’t even heard of it until last week, but only because someone told me about it. Its sudden appearance in my little world excited me. I’d seen the cover online, so I wasn’t surprised by the stunning Greek marble bust of a broken male form, which I did love. The bold insistence of the book’s trumpeted announcement into my sphere and the physical presence of the newly on-sale product was what really captured my attention. I tried to resist, but I had to read it immediately.
By Joe Nasta | Seattle foodie poet4 years ago in Poets
Introducing Mohammed El-Kurd
Born in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinian poet Mohammed El-Kurd rose to international fame amid this year's Israeli assault on Gaza and East Jerusalem. Although his credentials as a writer and activist have long been known to followers of Palestinian politics, his debut collection, Rifqa, introduces us for the first time to a poet of global stature.
By Rebecca Ruth Gould4 years ago in Poets
Sonnet - To Science and Alone
I present to you two examples of Poe's desire for a different life, something many of us still pine for. In Sonnet - To Science, Poe expresses his dreams of a simpler time when Nymphs still roamed the land, mysteries still to be solved, and places to be discovered. In Alone, Poe gives us a rare glimpse into his childhood and his early separation between him and his fellow man.
By Tales from a Madman4 years ago in Poets
