Favorite Poetry Covers of 2016

Tags

Aja Couchois Duncan, Allan Peterson, Ashland Poetry Press, Bear Star Press, Burt Kimmelman, CavanKerry Press, Dana Green, Dancing Girl Press, Daneen Wardrop, David Rivard, David Weville, Donika Kelly, Dos Madres Press, Ehtlel Rackin, Eileen Tabios, Floating Bridge Press, Glenis Redmond, Graywolf Press, Greg Alan Brownderville, Kevin Carey, Knives Forks Spoons Press, Lee Sharkey, Litmus Press, LSU Press, Lydia Popovich, Lydia Swartz, Lyn Hejinian, Marsh Hawk Press, Max Ritvo, Megan Snyder-Camp, Michael Rothenberg, Milkweed Editions, Mouthfeel Press, Natalie Safir, Noah Warren, Omnidawn Press, Paper Swans Press, Parlor Press, poetry covers, Press53, Shinjini Bhattacharjee, small press poetry, Tarpaulin Sky, Tavern Books, Tupelo Press, Yale Press

Dos Madres Press

Dos Madres Press

Litmus Press

Floating Bridge Press

Graywolf Press

Graywolf Press

Tarpaulin Sky

Paper Swans Press

Ashland Poetry Press

Milkweed Editions

Parlor Press

LSU Press

Press 53

Yale Press

Tavern Books

Dancing Girl Press

Knives Forks Spoons Press

CavanKerry Press

Omnidawn

Tupelo Press

Tupelo Press

Mouthfeel Press

Bear Star Press

Marsh Hawk Press

Buying Links:

Dos Madres Press
Litmus Press
Floating Bridge Press
Graywolf Press
Tarpaulin Sky
Paper Swans
Ashland Poetry Press
Milkweed Editions
Parlor Press
LSU Press
Press53
Yale Press
Tavern Books
Dancing Girl Press
Knives Forks Spoons Press
CavanKerry Press
Omnidawn Press
Tupelo Press
Mouthfeel Press
Bear Star Press
Marsh Hawk Press

Baby Writes Poems: “Chick-links” #1

Tags

Black Lawrence Press, Bright Stranger, chicklinks, Dos Madres Press, Graywolf Press, Jennifer Grotz, Katherine Soniat, Kristy Bowen, Latest Volcano, LSU Press, Marsh Hawk Press, new poetry, Old Ballerina Club, poetry picks, Salvage, Sharon Olinka, small press poetry, Tana Jean Welch, Window Left Open, women poets

Monday through Friday, this week only, BoneSpark is bringing you a special “chick-links” collection of contemporary women poets with new or newish releases from small or university presses. 5 chicas X 5 days! Why that’s 25 books worthy of sacrificing your lunch money to hold.

And without further ado, today’s five picks are:

SALVAGE by Kristy Bowen (Black Lawrence Press, May 2016)

OLD BALLERINA CLUB by Sharon Olinka (Dos Madres Press, Jan 2016)

LATEST VOLCANO by Tana Jean Welch (Marsh Hawk Press, Feb 2016)

BRIGHT STRANGER by Katherine Soniat (LSU Press, March 2016)

WINDOW LEFT OPEN
by Jennifer Grotz (Graywolf Press, Feb 2016)

[Click titles for (direct) purchase links and author names for bios.]

#ReadWomen 3×3: Poetry Collections to Grab

Tags

Ahsahta Press, Anglo-Saxon, Claudia Emerson, collage cut-up poems, Dancing Girl Press, Garden Effigies, Hedy Habra, Helen Ivory, Ilyse Kunetz, Knives Forks and Spoons Press, LSU Press, Maria Miranda Maloney, Pandora Lobo Estepario, Small Hours, Sweeter Water, The Lost Letters of Mileva, The Opposite House, Under Brush Strokes, Words on a Wire

GET ‘EM NOW:

From Maria Miranda Maloney:

The Lost Letters of Mileva ( Pandora Lobo Estepario, 2014)

prose poems in the voice of Albert Einstein’s first wife

==>Great interview about the collection on WORDS ON A WIRE podcast

 

 

 

From Ilyse Kusnetz:

Small Hours (Truman State, 2014)

a T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize winner, interweaving history and science into a tapestry of her own blood

==> Sample Poems here

 

 

From Pulitzer winner, Claudia Emerson:

The Opposite House (LSU Press, 2014)

the first of several posthumous collections from LSU Press, based around a line from Dickinson and full of mossy elegies and Virginia creeps

==>Title poem at Blackbird

 

 

RELEASING SOON:

No publication date yet, but some engrossing”teasers” for Helen Ivory‘s collection of collage/cut-up poems at Knives Forks and Spoons Press.  Find the goods at  AND OTHER POEMS and Helen’s Blog.

Coming this summer: Sara Henning’s Garden Effigies at dancing girl press. So far only this tweet to go on, but given the feast that was Sweeter Water and the quality of DGP pubs, it should be great.

Another release from a favorite press:

Hedy Habra’s Under Brush Strokes (Press 53) which is all about ART. yes! Already in love with the cover.

 

Got your own finds (including your own publications)? Share in the comments.

Odd Bits from a Creative Life (MAY ’15 ed.)

Tags

#FairyTaleFriday, Amy Stewart, call for guest posts, Deep South Magazine, El Zarape Press, Flower Patch mystery, Grand Avenue, Greg Sarris, Louise Gluck, LSU Press, Meadowlands, Mouthfeel Press, Odd Bits of a Creative Life, paintings, paper-cuts, southern lit, The Washington Project, Watermelon Nights, Wicked Plants, works in progress

So, friends, it’s been awhile since I’ve done one these.  Let me just dive right on in:

READING

 

 

 

 

 

 

I happened across Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities while flipping channels between educational shows one weekend.  Even though I am not an avid gardener or especially interested in plants, I rushed to the library for a copy.  And I have to say that it has been a really exciting read. Caught my mother making notes from it for the next Flower Patch mystery.

Also came across Louise Gluck’s Meadowlands at a used bookstore. Reading the books back-to-back before writing has produced some interesting poems, including one about Peter Peter Pumpkin-Eater and another about cesium poisoning in the Arctic via contaminated lichen.

Won several of the Big Poetry Book giveways from last month as well as one from Deep South Magazine. Haven’t got to all of those titles just yet. By the way, Deep South has great Literary Friday round-ups  for those who are into Southern Lit.

WRITING

Besides the giveaway books, with review copies I am literally swimming in poetry. But since my philosophy is that you can never have too much poetry, I am all smiles.

If you are a fan of my Sabotage round-ups, you’ll see reviews soon for titles from El Zarape Press, Mouthfeel Press and LSU Press.  I won’t spoil the fun by revealing the specifics just yet.

On the submission front, tidy batches of poems have gone out to several journals, and I’m hoping to have some publication news on the chapbook(s) soon.  Since it is now Short Story Month, I have been busily revising some of my short stories, including a dark fairy tale set in Cajun country that required some extra care in keeping the patois authentic.

Before the end of the month, I plan to get to Greg Sarris’ Grand Avenue: A Novel in Stories  which I hope is as good as Watermelon Nights.  I’ll try to post something on the blog when I’ve had time to digest.

On my other blog, I finally released the (Christian, character-focused) high school American history curriculum that I authored.  And despite my fiction writing group falling apart, I have managed to add some new scenes to my novel-in-progress. More on this later.

Have just discovered the #FairyTaleFriday challenge on Twitter.  This looks like it would be fun.  Too late to start on the ‘tremor’ theme for today, but I hope to contribute something next week if time allows.

ART

Despite all this writing, I have not given up on art. Below are a few of my newest paintings. Pardon the terrible lighting! I usually wrangle my little brother into taking the photos.  This is what you get when I do it myself.  The colors are much more vibrant in person, trust me.

I have also nearly completed my paper-cuts series. The latest bunch incorporates fairytale themes and uses a pastel palette.  Since most of the earlier works are out at journals and zines (and I hope to submit the latest round), you’ll have to wait for a sample.

 

 

 

 

Well, that pretty much does it for now.

If you’d like to contribute a GUEST POST on your creative life, please drop me a line at bonesparkblog@yahoo.com.

Go Ask Alice (2sDay Poems)

Tags

#ReadWomen2014, 2sDay Poems, Alice Friman, Alice Notley, Culture of One, LSU Press, Lucia Stewart, poetry readings, Songs and Stories of the Ghouls, University of Chicago, University of Georgia summer poetry, Vinculum, Wesleyan University Press, women artists

Alice in Wonderland by Lucia Stewart (prints available at Fine Art America)

 

Today’s post features not two poems, but two readings by women poets.  Alice Friman reads at The University of Georgia for Seat in the Shade: Summer Poetry Reading Series, while Alice Notley comes to you from The University of Chicago in a reading sponsored by the Renaissance Society.  Links to the collections read from by both Alices follow the videos. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purchase Vinculum at LSU Press.

Culture of One available at Penguin/Random House.

Songs and Stories of the Ghouls from Wesleyan University Press.

Sunday Sentence #32

Tags

Chimney Fire, Claudia Emerson, David Abrams, late wife, LSU Press, Southern Messenger series, southern poets, Sunday Sentence, women poets

 

My weekly contribution to David Abrams’ “Sunday Sentence” project in which participants share the best sentence read during the past week “out of context and without commentary.”

I learned to dread winter early,

before fall showed any real sign

of itself, the world still filled

with locusts, crickets, bees in the boneset,

ashen moths quickening the dusk.

SOURCE:  Lines from Claudia Emerson‘s poem “Chimney Fire” in Pulitzer Prize-Winning Collection Late Wife (LSU Press, Southern Messenger Series)

 

 

#NationalPoetryMonth Round-up (Day 24)

Tags

#NaPoWriMo, #NationalPoetryMonth, #NPM15, 30dpc, Anne Sexton, Claudia Emerson, Daniel Greene Smith, Deep South Magazine, Denishe Duhamel, Elizabeth Seydel Morgan, Flashbang Writing Studio, Harriet blog, HeartSoup, Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Karenne Wood, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Kenyon Review, Kristen Berkey-Abbott, Latino Art and Ekphrasis, LSU Press, lunch poems, Marly Youmans, Mary Karr, Miss Rumphius Effect, Naomi Shihab Nye, pink ink press, Poem a Day, Poetic Asides, poetry book giveaway, poetry prompts, Stay Thirsty Magazine, Stories& Slams, Wild Violet, women poets

The best prompts, poems and news from DAY TWENTY-FOUR of #NaPoWriMo/#NPM15 /#NationalPoetryMonth.

Best of the Prompts

Apparatus Magazine’s “Celestial Bodies/Skies Above prompt”
Imaginary Garden with Real Toads’ “Go Grimm prompt”
Flashbang Writing Studio’s “Remix Poems”
Poetic Asides P-A-D “Moment Poems”
Stories& Slams’ “Imitations prompt”
Miss Rumphius Effect’s “Jumping Into Form: Poems of Apology”
Wild Violet’s “U is for Utterance prompt”
NaPoWriMo’s “Parody/Satire prompt”
Pink Ink Press’ “Alter Ego/Evil Twin prompt”
HeartSoup’s “Ruin Micropoem prompt”
30dpc “Poems in Dialogue prompt”

Poems I Have Loved (Tweeters’ Shares)

Marly Youmans| “I Heard Their Wings Like the Sound of Many Waters”
Naomi Shihab Nye| “Red Brocade”
Kristin Berkey-Abbott| “Demands of Dough”
Claudia Emerson| “Daybook”
Kathryn Stripling Byer| “Ripe” (from Black Shawl)
Daniel Greene Smith| “Framing Hammer”
Karenne Wood| “The Naming”

Miscellaneous

A Conversation with Poet Denise Duhamel at Stay Thirsty Magazine
Elizabeth Seydel Morgan Reflects on a Poetic Career at Deep South Magazine (w/ GIVEAWAY!!)
Poetry is Going Extinct, Gov’t Data Show at Washington Post
Latino Art and Ekphrasis at Harriet the Blog
Anne Sexton painting: Self-Portrait
Lunch Poems: Mary Karr (video)

Favorite (Mostly Poetry) Book Covers of the Year

Tags

Alice James Books, Black Lawrence, BOA Editions, Carcanet Press, Curbside Splendor, Dancing Girl Press, Dialogos, Donut Press, Floating Bridge Press, Great Indian Poetry Collective, Lost Horse Press, LSU Press, Milkweed, NYQBooks, Omnidawn, Penned in the Margins, Persea Books, Red Hen Press, Sabotage Reviews, Santa Fe Writers Project, The Emma Press, What Books Press, Yellow Flag Press

recently asked this question on twitter and posted a short list that included picks from Penned in the Margins, The Emma Press,  Floating Bridge and Donut Press.

 

Here are my top picks.  Enjoy!!!  [Hover over cover for name of the press].

Lost Horse Press

Milkweed

NYQBooks

Omnidawn

Persea Books

Red Hen Press

What Books Press

Yellow Flag Press

Santa Fe Writers Project

Great Indian Poetry Collective

Dialogos

Dancing Girl Press

Curbside Splendor

Carcanet

BOA

Black Lawrence

Alice James

LSU Press

 

Tweet your favorites or share in the comments.

Look Like You Know Your $hit 2014 Poetry as Gifts Guide

Tags

2014 Poetry Collections, a note passed to superman, A Whole New World, Ahsahta Press, Aladdin, Alaska, Alice James Books, Anne Ferry, Apiology with Stigma, Bad NDN, Black Ocean, Carrie Olivia Adams, Claudia Emerson, Clay Matthews, Commonplace Invasions, contraband of hoopoe, Copper Canyon, Dan Vera, Dancing Girl Press, Debt to the Bone-Eating Snotflower, Ewa Chrusciel, Figure Studies, Forty One Jane Doe's, Graywolf Press, Hanging Loose Press, Happenstance, Helena Nelson, holiday gift giving guide, HOT TOPIC, How a Poem Happens, Jo Pitkin, Julie Funderburk, Kelly Andrews, Lavender Ink/Dialogos, Letras Latinas, Look Like You know Your Shit, Louisiana small press, LSU Press, Mad Honey Symposium, Marguerite Guzman Bouvard, Mule-Skinner, NOLA poetry, Omnidawn, Plot and CounterPlot, Poem for Plutocrats, poetheads, Rachel Piercey, Red Hen, Rivers Wanted, Sabotage Reviews, Sally Wen Mao, Salmon Poetry, Sarah Lindsay, Scandlous, sexy christmas elf, Sherman Alexie, southern lit, Southern Messenger Poets, Speaking Wiri Wiri, Split This Rock, Starlight on Water, Steven Scafidi, supernatural, The Cabinetmaker's Window, The Emma Press, The Leviathan of Parsonstown, The Light That Shines Inside Us, The Overhaul, The Title of the Poem, Thoughts to Fold Into Birds, To Whoever Set My Truck on Fire, Unicorn Press, What I've Stolen What I've Earned, women poets

Yes, it is that time of year again, friends….the time of ‘best of’ lists and holiday buying hives. Ok, maybe that’s not you, but you really, really want to impress that super hot poet that lives down the hall or maybe deigns to talk to you in the Starbucks line you happen to keep timing just right so as to consistently run into him/her.

Or maybe, you are married to one of these poethead monsters.  Or gasp! You are one of those word-flingers.

 

Sexy-Christmas-Elf-me can practically guarantee to get you a good snog under the mistletoe, if you will wrap up  a few of these (mostly) 2014 collections.

From AHSAHTA PRESS

Forty-One Jane Doe’s

This is actually a Spring 2013 release that made it into my basket early this year, but boy am I glad that it did.  Combining a print book with a DVD of short films, this combo from  Carrie Olivia Adams (better known as poetry editor for Black Ocean) is definitely a keeper.

Love this tagline:  “A woman knows her body . . . until it is exploded into a multitude of Janes.”

 

from ALICE JAMES

Mad Honey Symposium

Sally Wen Mao‘s May-released debut stunner. Feast your eyes on lines from “Apiology, with Stigma” HERE

I Know! Your eyes are totally blown out of your head.

 

Moving on to 2 Titles from COPPER CANYON  

Debt to the Bone-Eating Snotflower

Sarah Lindsay delves into skeleton-eating worms, sweet potato and squid with brief jaunts to Iraq

Read “The Leviathan of Parsonstown” here

 

 

Sun-Bear  also from Copper Canyon

Matthew Zapruder‘s 4th collection, another zinger from one of Cali’s hottest poets

Check out “Poem for Plutocrats”

 

 

and don’t forget my go-to press DANCING GIRL bringing us…

 

Mule-Skinner by

Kelly Andrews, coeditor of Pretty Owl Poetry/economic journalist, delivering a kick-ass first chapbook plus she loves cats. What’s not to like?

Read a sample poem at the purchase link above.

 

And from (The) EMMA PRESS, one of the cooolest small presses in the UK…

Rivers Wanted

Rachel Piercey’s 2nd pub with EP, but her first full-length pamphlet, bringing every bit of her gobsmacking wit and charm to a head.

Check out the great write-up from Sabotage Reviews here.

from GRAYWOLF PRESS

The Overhaul

Ok, a bit of a cheat.  This is forthcoming Feb. 2015, but I just love the Scottish hell out of Kathleen Jamie and couldn’t help but put this up even without a pre-order button. Why is there no pre-order button?

Oh well, buy this as soon as it’s out.

 

then there is this ball-buster from HANGING LOOSE PRESS

What I’ve Stolen, What I’ve Earned

Sherman Alexie is hands-down the baddest NDN around with multi-genre superpowers, and I basically want to be him when I grow up, only better-looking in a dress, which should be red with imitation feathers.

 

from HAPPENSTANCE  (another small press from across the pond)

Starlight on Water and Plot and Counter-Plot

These pamphlets are actually from 2003 and 2010, but I’ve only just discovered Helena Nelson through performance circles, so bear with me.

Both of these babies rock the cover art and feature marvellous poems.

from LAVENDER INK/DIALOGOS 

The Light That Shines Inside Us

Marguerite Guzman Bouvard‘s poems so good they should have their own shrine. And I am I totally not just saying that because this is like my favorite NOLA based press. Who Dat, Y’all!!

 

from LSU PRESS  (Purple and Gold, Baby)

The Cabinetmaker’s Window from the sexy poet-carpenter who is all over the Southern lit magazines. Love me some Steven Scafidi.

Read “To Whoever Set My Truck on Fire” at How a Poem Happens and see.  See!

Now buy the book and

also snap up

Figure Studies by

Claudia Emerson

which pairs really well with Forty-One Jane Doe’s  from above [top of the list]

 

then again, you can’t really go wrong with most of the Southern Messenger Poets series 

 

 same goes for Ewa Chrusciel, whose latest from OMNIDAWN 

 

contraband of hoopoe has just the right mix of art and ritual to make you want to do research and never stop traveling even if it’s all just in your mind

 

well, that doesn’t really do her justice.  just pick up the book and work your way into her genius.

 

RED HEN also has a stunner with its 2013 Winner of the inaugural Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize

Speaking Wiri Wiri by Dan Vera

is good, good, good stuff

Hear him read here. Funny, charming. Brave experimenter with language.

[Dude, I know it was on Split This Rock’s recommended list from last year, but I just got it…so now I’m telling you it’s good. LOL]

 

from SALMON POETRY

Commonplace Invasions by

Jo Pitkin, is a must-have.  She has been accused of “bewitching” her readers, but in the best possible way. 🙂

Everything out of Salmon Poetry is top-notch.

 

and from UNICORN PRESS

Thoughts to Fold Into Birds by

Julie Funderburk

“grounded in the coastal carolina’s wind, sun, and sea”

ahhhhhhhhhhhh. small press goodness from NC.

 

Also, you’ll look really, really smart if you buy and then read….

 

The Title of the Poem by

Anne Ferry

Seriously, though, this will open up a whole new world. Trust me!!!!

2sDay Poems: Readings from Louisiana’s Current Poet Laureate

Tags

2sDay Poems, Ava Leavell Haymon, Julie Kane, Library of Congress, Louisiana poets, LSU Press, Poet Laureate of Louisiana, The Poet and the Poem series, The Witch Has Told You a Story, What the Witch Wanted, Why the House is Made of Gingerbread, Women writers

Today’s poems come from Ava Leavell Haymon‘s award-winning, fairytale-inspired collection Why the House is Made of Gingerbread (LSU Press)

The Witch Has Told You a Story

You are food.
You are here for me
to eat. Fatten up,
and I will like you better.Your brother will be first,
you must wait your turn.
Feed him yourself, you will
learn to do it. You will take him

eggs with yellow sauce, muffins
torn apart and leaking butter, fried meats
late in the morning, and always sweets
in a sticky parade from the kitchen.

His vigilance, an ice pick of hunger
pricking his insides, will melt
in the unctuous cream fillings.
He will forget. He will thank you

for it. His little finger stuck every day
through cracks in the bars
will grow sleek and round,
his hollow face swell…

FULL-TEXT HERE

Audio file of Haymon reading below (first link), followed by a discussion of the poem at NPR (second link)

 

Hear the full NPR interview below and a second podcast in which Haymon joins Julie Kane, the previous Louisiana Poet Laureate from 2011-2013, for The Poet and the Poem series* at the Library of Congress.

 

*Full catalog of available podcasts from the Library of Congress series here.