Raymond Carver said of The Incognito Lounge, Denis Johnson’s third and most widely acclaimed book of verse: The subject matter is harrowingly convincing, is nothing less than a close examination of th
Mary Karr's four volumes of poetry are Sinner's Welcome (published by HarperCollins in 2006), Viper Rum, The Devil's Tour, and Abacus. She has received The White Writer's Award, a National Endowment f
Sarah Rosenblatt’s One Season Behind is an insightful look at the way life sneaks up on us, and time moves so gently, that we awaken one morning, and find the leaves have turned. She savors the innoce
Gregory Djanikian's So I Will Till the Ground, his fifth collection of poetry, confronts the horrors of the Armenian genocide of 1915, and the diaspora that ensued, sending survivors to all parts of t
Hayan Charara's first collection of poems, The Alchemist's Diary, confronted both the wonder and terror of the world. This new book, simultaneously quiet and fierce, delves deeper into the mystery of
Originally published by Tia Chucha Press in 1999, Muscular Music, the debut collection of Terrance Hayes, won a Whiting Writers award, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and received favorable reviews in
Prague's Velvet Revolution changed Richard Katrovas's life and values profoundly, and Prague Winter reflects those changes. Katrovas bears witness to the remarkable transformation of one of the world'
The poems in this powerful first book have grown from the American urban experience of the last half of this century, a time of decay and diminishing possibilities; they vary from realistic vignettes
Baltimore reporter Jason Currant is a classic burnt-out case: scarred by Vietnam and a recent divorce, he casts a jaded eye on the world, trusting no one. Then comes an improbable call from Iowa. His
In this study, Edith Balas draws upon a wide range of humanistic learning to examine the significance of the Mother Goddess and her cult in the works of such major figures as Botticelli, Mantegna, Mic
In the personal and critical essays of Mapping the Heart, Wesley McNair, one of New England's most important poets, reveals the impact of place on his own poetry and the verse of several other New Eng
The voice of these poems is clear and strong, rising as it does out of the earth to “the celebrations of the reeds,” living simply and daily among cat-tail, wren, peacock, children, women, “praising t
Set in the first half of the twentieth century, this collection of short stories explores the intricate relationships between fathers and sons. The contradictions of everyday life lead these men to qu
Pau-Llosa’s poetry makes intellectual demands from his reader, not so much aiming at abstractions as to make the concrete forms of poetic language intelligible. He honors his reader by not making conc
The mesmerizing poems in Stanford’s third collection move deftly from the kiss of the hummingbird’s fringed tongue to apocalypse, from midwives’ magical cures to a gritty New Jersey overpass. The poem
World Without Finishing continues Peter Cooley’s search for the “ordinary miraculous,” the subject of his books for four decades. In those liminal spaces where Cooley voyages, the otherworldly is a ha
David Yezzi’s fourth book of poems considers what it’s like, during times of roiling change, to feel like a stranger on one’s own street and in one’s own country. This uprooting is partly geographic,
These poems touch down in many parts of the world, from Argentina during the Dirty War to the alleys of the small towns in South Jersey where the author grew up. An extended study of the love poem, th
Ranging from love song to train song to jump rope rhyme, the poems of Sometimes We’re All Living in a Foreign Country are voiced by perpetual outsiders searching for a sense of place from small Southe
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Alan Dugan described Skoyles’s poems as “clear-eyed but passionate, sarcastic but grave, all at the same time.” That description holds true for this selection of poems from
In these six stories, Willa Cather vividly captures the character of early 1900s Pittsburgh, a place she called home during her formative years as a writer. She depicts a city a where culture is begin
From mermaids to lovers to skinny dogs to dervishes, Heather Hartley’s second collection, Adult Swim, gathers together unlikely characters whose different stories explore the connections we share—love
In Swastika into Lotus, Richard Katrovas, a “punk formalist,” casts a wary eye on poetry, poetry readings, higher education, the UFO cottage industry, organized religion, fine dining, climate change d
Kate Stoddard murdered Charles Goodrich in 1873—after he told her they weren’t really married and had her evicted from his Brooklyn brownstone in a blizzard. Kate’s struggles to maintain her sanity an
Novelist Gladys Schmitt (1909–1972) published many stories in popular magazines. They are collected here for the first time. Gladys’s short fiction, like her novels, address wide swaths of the readin
Novelist Gladys Schmitt (1909–1972) published many stories in popular magazines. They are collected here for the first time. Gladys’s short fiction, like her novels, address wide swaths of the readin
Man is premised on the fact that most individuals in our culture have, over the last two generations especially, drifted beyond rebellion or rejection of spiritual matters into a purely worldly menu o
Tell me, pleads the speaker in the opening lines of "Poem for Virginia in Ecstasy." Tell me all about it. That consuming curiosity is emblematic of this anticipated debut collection, which investigate
I Love You Terribly includes six glimpses of romance, snapshots of couples in and out of love. Crisp and playful, soulful and sad, these dramas distill life's miseries and joys into stylized sketches
Cummins's quiet, lunatic meditations--wait, that should be luminous meditations--are great fun. From father-son stuff, and women grousing about that sentimentality, to killing someone in your basement
Culled from six previous collections, Scorpio Rising: Selected Poems, is the culmination of a thirty-five-year career. Katrovas's early poems reflect a harrowing childhood on the highways of America a
Whether considering a bus decorated by the grandmothers of former lovers, a child's view of a disembodied beard wandering hallways, or a dinner party given by a scampering herd of mice, the poems in S
A 25-year retrospective from the editorial cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Political cartoonist Rob Rogers has covered some vast political terrain in the last quarter century. He has lamp
This book contains fifteen essays and talks by a poet and librettist who has taught for over forty years (Iowa, Columbia, Bennington, Minnesota). They explore a range of topics, from individual poets
Although the stories in Gravity operate from the perspective of male speakers, the experiences they describe are as much about women as men. Bound up in them is the assumption that everything in life
