We have so many books coming in for review, that I simply cannot keep up with them all. I hope to eventually do more in-depth, individual reviews for these titles, but I'm not promising. In the meantime, here is a quick overview of what we have received and what my general impressions of the books have been at first glance:
Handfuls of Time by Ruth
Daigon
From Small Poetry Press, Select Poets Series
Phone 925-798-1411
ISBN 1-891298-17-X, $15.00
Another stunning collection from Ruth. She always writes with a keen honesty
and an insight to human experiences that floors me. If you dug Ruth's
work in our KotaPress Anthology series, then this is another 100 pages
of poetry you won't want to miss. See our "Behind The Scenes"
article this month (Jan 2003), too, for an interview with Ruth about this
collection.
flying under the radar
by KC Wilder
From Infinity Publishing, www.bybooksontheweb.com
ISBN 0-7414-0839-2, $13.95
KC is also the founder of Digital Surealizm which is a most interesting
take on words and art in modern times. This collection is an extension
of that work. The poetry and art shared in this collection is raw, real,
and all over the map. If you have an appreciation for culture crit in
the context of an individual's life span, then you'll totally get this
and read with a facination of the process of discovery. Very interesting.
Time Travel Reports by
Charles Fishman
From Timberline Press, 6281 Red Bud, Fulton, Missouri 65251
ISBN 0-944048-24-2, $8.00
Charles was one of the first poets to contribute work to KotaPress Poetry
Journal and has long been one of our fav writers. This collection is another
in a long series of great works. Everything is top of the line here: the
poems, the layout, the paper, the cover design. The whole thing fits.
You may recognize the title poem from our own 2001 KotaPress Poetry Anthology
as well as several others. If you haven't read Fishman's work before now,
do a search here on our site. Once you are taken in by his words, you'll
simply not be able to pass up Time Travel Reports either! I am always
facinated by writers who read the newspapers or the latest off the AP
and create something with a cultural context, that reaches beyond the
mere event. Carla Griswold does it amazingly well. Fishman does it equally
as well in this collection. Check it out.
On the Dreaming Earth
by Carrington MacDuffie
From Subaqueous Press, www.lunacydewpoint.com
ISBN 0-9724836-0-8, $9.95
How can I even do justice to this collection? If you know Carrington's
work at all, you know that she has this magical power to just take you
into her world perspective and change the fissures in your very life.
This is an awesome collection, beautifully printed, stunning pic of Carrington
included (smile), and poems like you've never read and will never forget.
To quote her directly from one of the poems in this collection Breeze
Avenue, "I can hear the buzz of eternity" in this amazing collection!
Don't miss it.
Apple Blossoms at Eye
Level by Patricia Wellingham-Jones
From Poet's Corner Press, www.poetscornerpress.com
ISBN 0-9705931-9-8, $10.00
I'm just a huge fan of Patricia's works. She has an insight to the how
loss affects our everyday lives -- an insight to how we live after the
death of something precious. This collection is another one of those rare
gifts she shares with us to look through her eyes at the world. It is
not to say that we don't go on living after loss -- it is not to say that
we don't appreciate the stunning apple blossoms at eye level -- *but*
it is to say that we see the soul of our loved ones in that beauty. Patricia
is just an amazing story teller, a giver of comfort, a talented poet.
Check out this one!
Welcome, Babies by Patricia
Wellingham-Jones
PWJ Publishing, Tehama, California
ISBN 0-939221-20-9
Hard for me to review this one. It was created for guests at a baby shower,
and it has taken off as a hit seller. But for me, from the perspective
of having given birth to a stillborn child, well, it is a collection that
holds all that naivety and arrogance of baby showers that happen everyday
all over the world. It just isn't a belief system I can buy into anymore.
So it's hard for me to really say what this collection is like. Obviously,
from the review posted one paragraph above this, I love Patricia's works
and think she is tremendously talented. But I, as an individual, do too
much work on a daily basis with mothers giving birth to death -- I just
can't read this one with any kind of decent perspective. So, my advice:
Get your own copy and decide for yourself.
Ordinary Life by Barbara
Crooker
From ByLine Press, www.bylinemag.com
ISBN 0-9659832-4-2
It is difficult for me to explain how much I appreciate this collection
from Crooker. She knows what it means to raise children after the death
of one of them. This collection is about watching her autistic son and
other children grow and change and learn and be hurt by everyday life
and challenges. It is about the simple joys of an "amethyst sea"
and a winter's night. These poems read to me like Crooker just took out
her heart, placed it on the table, and decided it was okay to examine
and talk about it over tea. She's honest. She's real. She's amazing. The
works here are crafted *and* accessible. The publication itself is beautifully
created. Ordinary Life is anything but ordinary. Check it out!
