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."
Featured Audio: Mark A. Pritchard Reads More from “Billy Christmas”
“We have things to discuss” the Christmas tree says to Billy in the dark of the living room after bemoaning its fairy light binds. Billy’s mother is sick in bed, his father is missing, and the pine tree he was given by the charitable proprietor of his local stand is about to thrust him into a magical adventure which will color forevermore how he thinks about family and what it means to be an adult. Hear Mark A. Pritchard dramatize this important scene from his novel, Billy Christmas.
ASP Author’s Gift Guide for Book Lovers (PART 2)
Gift guide part 2 features Mysteries, Travel Writing, and Books about Northern California.
ASP Authors’ Gift Guide for Book Lovers
Well, it’s that time of year again, when holiday gift lists are popping up all over. Here at ASP HQ, we’re particularly interested, of course, in gifts for book-lovers, and we’ve noticed a curious fact: No matter how diverse the sources of these lists, a few titles pop up again and again. Usually these are recently published, widely reviewed best-sellers. While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, gift-givers might find themselves putting one more copy of the current hot mystery, or history, or memoir under a book-loving friend’s tree.