Elizabeth Hazen Interviews Dean Smith, Author of Baltimore Sons
Elizabeth Hazen sits down with fellow Baltimore poet Dean Smith for the Baltimore Fishbowl
Introduction authored by Elizabeth Hazen for the Baltimore Fishbowl:
"Dean Bartoli Smith’s second poetry collection, Baltimore Sons, paints a brutally honest portrait of Charm City – a place bursting with personality and charm, but also marred by poverty and violence. In these poems, readers will find neighborhoods filled with vibrant people who, along with the city itself, have shaped the speaker’s perspective.
Smith’s poems range from snapshots of childhood pastimes and homages to iconic Baltimoreans to missives about gun violence and even poems from the weapons’ perspectives. Despite the grit and realism in his work, Smith never despairs, instead highlighting the humanity that ultimately redeems the city and its residents. According to Smith, 'No one really knows what to make of native Baltimoreans. The city remains a wildcard that’s hard to define,' but through these poems, Smith has certainly given us a powerful representation.
A Baltimore native with a background in reporting and a journalistic eye for detail, Smith has written a collection that is accessible, heartbreaking, and 'the most painful love letter I’ve ever written.'"
“Persuasive” Woman Drinking Absinthe explores “Illicit Love” in New Review from Compulsive Reader
In his new review of Katherine E. Young’s Woman Drinking Absinthe, Charles Rammelkamp delivers a review worthy of the subject. With careful erudition, and no lack of wit, he mines Katherine’s beautiful and heartbreaking poesy about “illicit love” for words of affirmation.
7 Upbeat Poems to Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day (with printable PDFs)
Poem in Your Pocket Day was created by the Office of the Mayor of New York City in 2002 in partnership with the New York Department of Cultural Affairs and Education. Its goal is to reintroduce poetry, a traditionally performative art, into social situations and normal everyday life. As such, PIYPD marks the end of National Poetry Month, bringing the lessons of the month out into the rest of the year.
“Our Favorite Things”: Katherine E. Young and Natalya Sukhonos Discuss New Poetry Collections
Watch or read this alternating interview between poet and translator Katherine E. Young and Natalya Sukhonos both of which release new collections of original poetry this year.