Innisfree Poetry Journal Takes an In-Depth Look at the Career and Works of Grace Cavalieri
In their newest edition, Innisfree Poetry Journal, takes a deep dive into the work and career of Grace Cavalieri. The article features thirteen poems by the Maryland Poetry Laureate including many featured in her Legacy Book, Other Voices, Other Lives. The poems are drawn from her historical-literary explorations of the lives of three famous women of vastly different backgrounds: Mary Wollstonecraft, Anna Nicole Smith, and Madame de Stael.
Of her work on Mary Wollstonecraft, the oft-overlooked feminist pioneer and mother of Mary Shelley, Grace writes, "Historians may know what she did, but I knew what she felt."
You can read the entire article and all thirteen poems here. And check them out in Grace's groundbreaking legacy book, Other Voices, Other Lives which includes a selection of poems, plays, and interviews drawn from over forty years of work.
Featured Audio: Rose Solari reads “The Beginning, 1939”
In “The Beginning, 1939” Rose Solari’s mastery of recitation is put to the music of her capricious mother and the frantic hopes of her father who wishes to leave “no long, tight pauses for her to fill.” I’ve written before about Rose’s use of swing and rhythmic motifs in her work, elements which are alive in this poem, but what is really mesmerizing to me about “1939” is the musical image toward the end which harbors no pretense of cramming lieder into language, but instead focuses on the very physical act of her mother playing the piano:
Mikaela Lefrak Examines the Life of Maryland Poet Laureate, Grace Cavalieri
The beloved Grace Cavalieri “contains multitudes” according to Mikaela Lefrak in her newest article from WAMU taking a look at the life and career of the 10th Poet Laureate. And Ms. Lefrak treats her subject with the due respect of a life which cannot be covered succinctly in 500 words. She delivers a reverent tourists’ view of Grace Cavalieri’s life, hitting the big things: her poetry and work ethic, the passing of her husband, Kenneth Flynn, her conversion to Buddhism, and finally her new tenure as Poet Laureate.
Listen to Grace Cavalieri on the Kojo Nnamdi Show
Grace Cavalieri’s recent stop at NPR’s The Kojo Nnamdi show is now streamable. Over a substantive 22 minutes, listen to Grace talk about poetry, inspiration, and her plans as the 10th Maryland Poet Laureate.