This Swarm of Light reviewed
Reviewed by Paul Telles This Swarm of Light by Suzanne Sigafoos I-Beam Books (2020), 65 pp $16 ISBN #: 978-1-938928-10-9 Available at: https://shop.spybeambooks.com/product/this-swarm-of-light In her first full-length collection, Portland poet Suzanne Sigafoos delivers on her book’s title with an enchanting swarm of poems that moves fluidly through a garden of themes that include mortality and […]
What She Was Wearing by Shawn Aveningo Sanders, reviewed by Paul Telles
Reviewed by Paul Telles What She Was Wearing by Shawn Aveningo SandersThe Poetry Box (November 5, 2019), 48 pp, $12ISBN #: 978-1-948461-32-0Available at: https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/what-she-was-wearing In What She Was Wearing, Portland poet Shawn Aveningo Sanders bravely reveals her experience as a rape victim. In a series of 29 muscular poems, Sanders recounts the horrific experience of […]
The Barbie Diaries by Dale Champlin, reviewed by Paul Telles
The Barbie Diaries by Dale Champlin Just a Lark Books (November 17, 2019), 65 pp $14 ISBN #: 978-1708450267 Available at: [email protected] Is it possible to say anything new about Barbie? Since her introduction in 1959, the PVC fashionista has been reviled and revered, loved and loathed. Her literary footprint includes adoring preteen blogs, scathing […]
The Leaf, by Nancy Christopherson, reviewed by Paul Telles
The Leaf by Nancy Christopherson Nancy Christopherson (July 13, 2015), 66 pp $8 ISBN #: 978-0-692-42433-9 Available at: http://www.nancychristophersonpoetry.com/ In her 2015 book, The Leaf, Oregon poet Nancy Christopherson showcases uncommon poems about one of the most common human sufferings—the loss of a parent. In poems deployed throughout her self-published collection, Christopherson builds a loose […]
Bee Dance by Cathy Cain, reviewed by Paul Telles
Bee Dance by Cathy Cain The Poetry Box (June 15, 2019), 87 pp, $16 ISBN #: 978-1948461221 Available at: https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/bee-dance In Bee Dance, Portland poet Cathy Cain brings a fresh take to one of the most venerable themes in modern poetry: the troubled relationship between the natural world and human society.In 51 tightly crafted […]
Mortality, with Pronoun Shifts, by Don Colburn, reviewed by Shawn Aveningo-Sanders
Mortality with Pronoun Shifts by Don Colburn Winner of the 2018 Cathy Smith Bowers Chapbook Contest Main Street Rag Publishing Company, 2019, 40 pages, $12 ISBN: 978-1-59948-732-8 Available at https://mainstreetragbookstore.com Mortality. It’s a mighty word that has the potential to haunt each of us on our walk through life, forcing us to face the inevitable. […]
In These Voices by Sherri Levine, Reviewed by Paul Telles
In These Voices by Sherri Levine The Poetry Box (August 29, 2018), 42 pp $12 ISBN #: 978-1948461115 Available at: https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/in-these-voices True to its title, Sherri Levine’s In These Voices deftly explores personae ranging from a squirrel to an English teacher to ruminating lovers and parents. Throughout this collection of 22 short poems, Levine employs […]
The Rhythm of It, Poetry’s Hidden Dance by Anita Sullivan, Reviewed by Katie Eberhart
The Rhythm of It, Poetry’s Hidden Dance by Anita Sullivan Shanti Arts Publishing, 2019, 118 pages, $14.95 ISBN: 978-1-951651-03-9 (softcover) Available at http://shantiarts.com Author web site: https://www.anitasullivan.org The Rhythm of It, Poetry’s Hidden Dance by Anita Sullivan is a collection of essays brimming with ideas that accompany the author’s mindful and body-movement exploration of poetry. […]
Chasing Down the Storm – by Charles R. Castle, Jr. reviewed by Joy McDowell
Improbable Press, 2019, 110 pages $20 ISBN 9781088457542 Available at – www.amazon.com Fluidity is the word that came to mind as I read Charles Castle’s latest collection of poems. Divided into seven sections, Chasing Down the Storm does indeed chase a panorama of personal pathos and characters that utilize a bridge between nature and the […]
