LET THE DEAD IN Receives Glowing Review in Lightwood Press #10
"Agostini’s socially and spiritually aware poetry collection 'Let the Dead In' focuses on the duality between love and hate along with the way that these concepts integrate and clash"
Poet Robyn Hager reviews Saida Agostini's daring first collection let the dead in in the 10th edition of Lightwood. In her review, Hager praises Agostini's social and spiritual awareness as she contends with the violence and oppression facing black people in the United States. Below, read a small excerpt. Read the entire review in Lightwood's new issue here. Order let the dead in here.
Agostini successfully juxtaposes stark images from her life with deeply entrancing metaphors, and most poignantly in her poem "what love is" she compares the images of turmoil she witnesses between her parents with a dead buck on the side of the road whose
flesh ripped/exposing a dark black machine/so soft, stinking and fragile that years/later you’ll remember the risk of loving/something that wild
The author’s ability to display these powerful, and sometimes gruesome, epithets about life shines through in the entirety of her collection.
Rose Solari Came of Age as Teacher at “The Writer’s Center”
In this short essay, Rose Solari muses on her time as a teacher working in the early ’90s at Bethesda’s up and coming “The Writer’s Center”, and on how a recent reconciliation led our 2019 book launch back to The Center.
Grace Cavalieri and Other MD Poets Honor Stanley Plumly on Midday W/Tom Hall
Grace Cavalieri, Elizabeth Spires, and Michael Collier discuss the life and work of former MD Poet Laureate, Stanley Plumly, on WYPR’s Midday with Tom Hall.
“Melodic Recollections of Notable Musicians: Stories from the Stacks” Reuben Jackson on VPR
In “Melodic Recollections of Notable Musicians” Reuben spends an hour recalling his adventures and misadventures as curator of the Smithsonian’s Ellington collection. For anyone interested in knowing more about Reuben Jackson and the immense jazz influence in his poetry, this is the place to start.