BOA Blog

Publishers Weekly is calling The World Shared "urbane, articulate, unpredictable free verse." According to the recent review, this first American book from the "prolific and celebrated Polish poet and critic not only survives translation" but "positively flourishes in the American English that the facing-page edition provides." The World Shared carries poems by Dariusz Sosnicki, translated from the Polish by Piotr Florczyk and Boris Dralyuk. The review notes Dariusz Sosnicki's superb observation skills, "voicing the everyday absurd," and calls the poet "minatory, or mock-vatic, almost advising the impossible." His poetry is cross-cultural: "a few poems depict the American plains or address...

In a recent Publishers Weekly review that accentuates the eclecticism of his "long Technicolor lines and staunch prose blocks," Sean Thomas Dougherty is called "a blue-collar, Rust Belt romantic to his generous, enthusiastic core," and a writer who "wears his heart on both sleeves." In his new collection, All You Ask for Is Longing: New and Selected Poems, the portraits these poems paint "coalesce into a gloriously troubled American of black and white, Puerto Rican and Korean ... And for all their street energy they are determinedly literary as well: name checking Lorca, Neruda and Bjork, as well as Martin...

Author Aurelie Sheehan blurs the lines separating fiction, memoir, and poetry in her latest collection of short stories, according to a recent New Letters review. Jewelry Box: A Collection of Histories focuses on "moments, on shards, on objects--like the jewelry box of the title story," says reviewer Jacqueline Kolosov. Sheehan finds a playfulness in the voice of each story, which often complicates the boundary between narrator and author. "'Story,' one of the most self-referential pieces, opens yet another window onto Sheehan's aesthetic: 'Some days it seems I have a lot to say, that life holds important and beautiful stories,' she...

In a piece published by We Wanted to Be Writers, Lee Upton (The Tao of Humiliation), reveals her current list of late night reading material, which includes everything from essays by Margaret Atwood to gardening books by George Schenk. A writer with insightful reading advice, Upton's nightstand stash is the result of her bedside reading manner: "I confess that my bedside reading is not like the other reading I do in the house," says Upton. "The reason is simple: I am a susceptible reader right before bed, when I feel most porous and undefended. And so the books by my bed have,...

Father's Day is just around the corner, so we've put together a list of the best BOA books for the occasion. Whether you're celebrating, remembering, or becoming a father, these books are perfect poetry companions, and make great gifts for the men in your life. Happy Father's Day! Transfer Naomi Shihab Nye Naomi Shihab Nye’s Transfer is called the “best work this much-honored poet has produced to date.” Dealing heavily with the difficult loss of her father, Nye's collection is a process of finding dialogue with him even after his death. “The whole book is a eulogy to the man,”...