Rose Solari Reviews Three New Collections Exploring History and Identity
The WIROB critic tackles collections by Steven Leyva, Miles David Moore, and Stanley Moss in the January roundup
Rose Solari reviews three exemplar new poetry collections for Washington Independent Review of Books. In her ongoing poetry column, Solari takes great care to tie each of the collections she reviews together and the theme this month is history and identity.
From the beautifully drawn New Orleans of Steven Leyva's The Understudy's Handbook, to the WWII of Miles David Moore's Man on Terrace with Wine, and the deep knowledge and reverence for the history of poetry in Act V, Scene 1 by Stanley Moss, these three collections look at the foundations of history, art, love, and identity: "The Ground Beneath their Feet."
Rose Solari keeps a regular column where she reviews poetry for Washington Independent Review of Book. Her last review tackled the Selected Lucille Clifton and Henry Taylor.
“On the Road, Columbia, South Carolina, Spring 1959” A Poem by Reuben Jackson
“There’s much said in what’s not said in Reuben Jackson’s poetry. His cleverly sparse style often convincingly veils the complexities of which he writes, just until the poet sharply corrects our deception.” Linda Stiles
Those deceptions Ms. Stiles refers to above often come from Reuben’s use of the child’s point of view. As a child, the narrator, and reader by proxy, is looking up at the absurdity of adult interests and actions with a renewed curiosity. The narrator misses the cut of the barber’s words when asked “aren’t you proud of being negro?” The narrator cannot reason why the neon lights of the roadside motel are fading in the rear-view window, and yet his father seemed once so confident…
New Poem by Reuben Jackson, “Radio Nights”
Radio Nights by Reuben Jackson ASP is proud to premier the new Reuben Jackson poem, “Radio Nights.” From Reuben: As I mentioned during the interview with Rose Solari, my childhood […]
Reuben Jackson Reads his Poem “Second Grade”
Reuben Jackson Reads “Second Grade” “Reuben Jackson’s poems are gateways to possible worlds. With the finesse of a real sleight-of-hand artist, he transforms the truly personal—hopes, dreams, desires—into universal memories.” Richard […]