Baltimore Magazine Names Elizabeth Hazen an Author to Read During Social Distancing
Elizabeth Hazen, author of "Girls Like Us," is named beside Dora Malech and D. Watknins as authors to read during social distancing in a new Baltimore Magazine editorial.
In a new editorial from Baltimore Magazine, Baker award finalist Elizabeth Hazen is named as an author to read "while working from home" (read: social distancing). The magazine puts her name next to other Baltimore stalwarts like the incredible poet Dora Malech and the essayist Kondwani Fidel.
Elizabeth has been hit hard by recent event cancelations due to the COVID19 outbreak. Her events at Normal's Books, Greedy Reads, City Lit, and Kensington have been canceled or postponed.
Her newest book, Girls Like Us (released March 1st), is packed with fierce, eloquent, and deeply intelligent poetry focused on female identity and the contradictory personas women are expected to embody.
Featured Audio: Rose Solari reads “The Beginning, 1939”
In “The Beginning, 1939” Rose Solari’s mastery of recitation is put to the music of her capricious mother and the frantic hopes of her father who wishes to leave “no long, tight pauses for her to fill.” I’ve written before about Rose’s use of swing and rhythmic motifs in her work, elements which are alive in this poem, but what is really mesmerizing to me about “1939” is the musical image toward the end which harbors no pretense of cramming lieder into language, but instead focuses on the very physical act of her mother playing the piano:
Mikaela Lefrak Examines the Life of Maryland Poet Laureate, Grace Cavalieri
The beloved Grace Cavalieri “contains multitudes” according to Mikaela Lefrak in her newest article from WAMU taking a look at the life and career of the 10th Poet Laureate. And Ms. Lefrak treats her subject with the due respect of a life which cannot be covered succinctly in 500 words. She delivers a reverent tourists’ view of Grace Cavalieri’s life, hitting the big things: her poetry and work ethic, the passing of her husband, Kenneth Flynn, her conversion to Buddhism, and finally her new tenure as Poet Laureate.
Listen to Grace Cavalieri on the Kojo Nnamdi Show
Grace Cavalieri’s recent stop at NPR’s The Kojo Nnamdi show is now streamable. Over a substantive 22 minutes, listen to Grace talk about poetry, inspiration, and her plans as the 10th Maryland Poet Laureate.