A Book and Its Cover: Rose Solari Reviews Two New Collections of Poetry for WIRoB
Terri Ellen Cross Davis and Dan Beachy-Quick's new collections get the Rose Solari treatment in a new review which ties subject matter to cover design.
Rose Solari's latest review column for Washington Independent Review of Books tackles two stellar new collections by established small-press poets, Terry Ellen Cross Davis and Dan Beachy-Quick. As with all her reviews, Rose uses a common theme to link the subject matter of the books she is reviewing. This month, she explores how the cover design is mirrored by the poetry and vice versa.
Of Terri Ellen Cross Davis' new collection a more perfect union, Rose writes that before you read the first page you know that the poems will be "strong, elegant, embodied, female, and Black." She goes on to praise Cross Davis' incisive poetry which "[don't] waste time." In Rose's words Cross Davis' "lyricism is purposeful, her observations cut quick and sharp." Finally, Rose praises Cross Davis for her lack of "sugar-coating" particularly in poems which detail the relationship of a Black mother and son.
Of Dan Beachy-Quick's aptly titled Arrows, Rose praises a cover and forward matter that at first appear overly "precious" but, after reading the first poem and being transported "immediately into another world, an imagined ancient time where place is a meditative state of mind," capture the mood and feel of the book perfectly. Rose both praises and criticizes the classical bent of the poetry:
"Unless you’re a classicist yourself, you might need a few reference books (or handy use of online searches) to follow these poems to their landing places. But rather than being put off by that, I was grateful to feel, as I read, my mind widening to encompass the contradictory impulses, the sly jokes followed by unabashed celebration that these poems contain."
A Short Thought on Grace’s Interview with Jorie Graham (by Writer, Nin Andrews)
Nin Andrews is a poet. Most recently of Miss August which is out now from the awesome Cavankerry Press and most notably of the collection, Why God is a Woman. Nin Andrews is also a fan of Grace Cavalieri’s interview with Jorie Graham which she recently extolled over on ITN.
Featured Audio: The 2019 Maryland Poet Laureate Reads her Poem “Work is my Secret Lover”
Governor Hogan recently announced Maryland’s ninth Poet Laureate to be the incomparable Grace Cavalieri. In his press conference regarding the announcement he touched on her “lifelong” dedication to poetry, and this precisely is one of those defining characteristics of a great artist. ASP celebrated this aspect of Grace in her Legacy Book, Other Voices, Other Lives which is an atemporal sampling of her entire career to now, from poetry to prose, from plays to interviews with US Poets Laureate. It should come as no surprise to Mr. Hogan nor the careful reader of her works then that she has an almost religious dedication and inescapable fascination with her art and its many ingredients. As you we shall hear, in her poem “Work is my Secret Lover,” Poetry is the muse.
ASP Author’s Gift Guide for Book-Lovers (PART 3)
ASP Author’s Gift Guide for Book-Lovers Part 3: The Scholar, The Teacher, and The Godfather A Sampling of Music, Mythology, and Books that Touch the Heart Reuben Jackson Poet […]