The first thing that readers will note about this highly unusual tale of a cartographer in a strange and futile-seeming society on an apparent track toward doom of some kind, is the magnificence of the artwork. This is appropriate, since... Read More

The necessary kindling is what ignites, and in the title poem it begins this way: “when she awakens, / she remembers / the shape of her own breath, / pressing it / into the heart of her words.” So, like all first words, this... Read More

The fist in the title is an appropriate image for a book of poems about rough edges and marital disillusion, though this fist is womanly-curvaceous and quick. The poet’s rage is elegant, but she’s not wholly resentful, perhaps... Read More

It’s as easy as P.I.E. (pencil, ink, erase) writes Mayne, teacher and artist. Mayne began to pursue his drawing passion at age ten by tracing his favorite cartoons. This included the works of Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. For... Read More

Sidewalk cracks and black cats, propped-up ladders and umbrellas opened indoors: Superstition, like poetry, relies on the small fragments of the world for its magic. The latest collection from National Book Award nominee Eleanor Lerman... Read More

Not short on words for even the smallest of things, the sparks in this collection are the many bits of language that flare out from the subject, ranging from the death of a father, to loves and intimacies, to figures from history. In... Read More

Many of America’s great works of art dive headlong into the river of homegrown folklore for inspiration. Extending what Pete Seeger termed the “folk process,” Forbes appears so steeped in idioms and mythos of Blues and, by... Read More

Skloot possesses an extraordinary talent, demonstrated in this, his third book of poetry. The title is subterfuge, luring belief in a metaphor about endings. In his skilled hand, it is less about endings than acceptance, reconciliation,... Read More