How lovely to find a review from out of the blue ...

Masters of Poetry! Even the title has a lovely and slightly ironic ring.

Thank you to Will Slotts Jr. for this lovely review and pairing me with James Baldwin and James Franco --- not to mention the famous Barbara Hamby. I am thrilled! You can read the review in the Third Coast Daily right here. He also has an interesting take on the state of poetry today and where e-books fit. This may be especially interesting in the age of the quick review.

Or if you want just a little taste of what Will says on:

THE STATE OF POETRY


The sale of poetry in all its various formats amounts to millions of dollars every year. Anthologies outsell individual writers; the dead poets beat the living. The majority of sales are to schools and libraries, but many of us buy poetry on a regular basis. Sales continue to rise, with the greatest increase in electronic formats. Some believe that e-books and audio books now make up 10 percent of the total sales each year. (Four of the six volumes I’m reviewing were read in e-book format, for expediency’s sake.) The majority of poetry today is published by small, independent presses. Buying poetry is a great way to support them!

ON CLOUD PHARMACY

Susan Rich, author of Cloud Pharmacy (White Pine Press, 2014), is also new to me, although this is her fourth book of poetry. Her publisher, however, is not a stranger. Because I have always enjoyed the poetry they put out, I follow their authors. This, I call “camp following” because I will buy whatever they produce. Ms. Rich does not disappoint. Her verse is lean and colloquial and her subjects vary widely, from paintings and photographs to travel and travail. Especially haunting is the sequence entitled “DARK ROOM.” These poems are all based on the photography and life of Hannah Maynard, a turn-of-the-century woman living in Victoria, British Columbia. As she works out the grief over the death of a teenage daughter, Hannah’s photos (and these poems) illuminate and develop ever more depth.

What a lovely way to begin a Monday!