“Scattered Clouds by Reuben Jackson is the balm for the sting of ‘real’ American life”
In the lastest review of "Scattered Clouds" Serena Agusto-Cox explores the pain and triumph in Jackson's poetry.
SERENA AGUSTO-COX recently posted a glowing review of Reuben Jackson's poetry collection "Scattered Clouds" on her excellent blog Savvy Verse & Wit.
In her review, Agusto-Cox focuses on the immense tremors of pain that shake the book at its core and on the hope lingering in their aftermath:
"Scattered Clouds by Reuben Jackson is the balm for the sting of 'real' American life, laced with a hope that we can overcome, persevere, and take the lessons we’ve learned from those lost to us and apply them to our future selves to create a better tomorrow. It’s the coverage we need away from the storm without forgetting that storms do come."
She also pays special attention to the fan-favorite Amir & Khadijah Suite, finding hope in Reuben's love ballads.
"It’s Jackson’s song of hope, either for himself or for all of us. His heart is full of love and it is reaching out to us in line after line searching for connection."
Lastly, Agusto-Cox selects her favorite poem from Scattered Clouds to be "Sunday Brunch."
Scattered Clouds is a volume of lyrical, emotionally forthright meditations on love, loss, and longing. The volume contains the complete text of the author’s award-winning first collection, fingering the keys; his nationally lauded poem, “For Trayvon Martin”; and his suite of ruminations on a long-time and deeply missed friend, the late barbershop owner Amir Yasin, and his widow Khadijah Rollins. These poems, exploring Amir’s late-life romance with Kadijah, became a national internet sensation.
Reflections on my First AWP; or, Sleepless in SeaTac
ASP Intern and Washington College Senior Eylie Sasajima on Her First AWP Conference
An interview with the late, great Linda Pastan
Along the indifferent corridors / of space, angels could be hiding,” Linda Pastan wrote in her poem “Muse.” ASP honors the legacy of Linda Pastan (1932–2023), a former Poet Laureate of Maryland, who passed away last week. Pastan was the author of the 2018 poetry book A Dog Runs Through It, which won the Towson University Literary Award.
Here’s to 2022! And Here’s a Sale…
2022 was a big year for ASP and our writers. In March, we had a booth at the annual AWP Conference, and our offsite reading, featuring authors Saida Agostini, Dave Housley, Elizabeth Hazen, and Richard Peabody, along with special guests Teri Ellen Cross Davis and Leslie Pietrzyk, had a standing-room-only audience packed with literary stars.