BOA Blog

Weston Cutter of Rain Taxi Book Reviews is calling Joe Salvatore's debut short-story collection To Assume a Pleasing Shape a "magnetic and propulsive" work of fiction. As Cutter puts it, the eleven stories in the collection are about "how life is more than simply a matter of keeping up 'spirit and spine,' how life is about living within the knowledge of our own end, and trying to love and share ourselves despite the casual doom of the day-to-day." According to Cutter, "Salvatore offers narratives that read and feel ultimately twinned... in most of the stories the reader must try to...

The Washington Post turned their book pages over to poetry yesterday and The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 was the star. Calling her works “small, precise, and chiseled,” the review aptly notes the synonymy between the personal and the political in Ms. Clifton’s poetry, as well as the complexity and intelligence thriving beneath a guise of simplicity. While her poetry is often associated with the African American experience, The Washington Post calls that characterization “limiting and unfair,” claiming that her later works extend “beyond the interests or history of any particular cultural community.” Instead, her innovative poetry seeks to...

If you've been anywhere near a television, computer, magazine stand, radio, or have stepped outside your house within the past month, it's probable that you've been exposed to the Olympic fever. One of the greatest examples of international cooperation and achievement, the Olympics are a true testament to human accomplishment. (It also doesn't hurt that they're so darn exciting to watch!) In the era of superstar-athletes and tweet-worthy national rivalries, there is also a creative ancient Olympic tradition that has, to some extent, fallen by the wayside; it is a tradition of poetry walking hand-in-hand with Olympic sport. This year,...

The wait is finally over! The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 are here! With the arrival of the first 200 copies to the BOA office just yesterday, our excitement for this landmark collection has reached its peak. The book is bigger - in every sense of the word - than any other book we've published, weighing in at a whopping 2.75 pounds of some of the best poetry in years. It is a stunning piece of art that we are thrilled to share with all of our readers! Starting today, advance copies of The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton...

Congratulations to BOA Poet Sean Thomas Dougherty for being featured this month by The Bakery! Dougherty, who gave an amazing poetry reading at this year's BOA "Poetry is Jazz" event, is known for his "electrifying performances" given worldwide, and is the author of Sasha Sings the Laundry on the Line (BOA, 2010), Broken Hallelujahs (BOA, 2007), and the forthcoming All I Ask for Is Longing: New and Selected Poems (BOA, 2014). More information on Dougherty is available on The Bakery website, in addition to samples of his poetry and this brief statement by the artist: "These poems show the range...