BOA Blog

University of Rochester's Three Percent took a look at Aleš Šteger’s The Book of Things and bestowed equal praise on the author and translator Brian Henry alike.  Henry is commended for matching the sophistication of Šteger’s writing in his translation, particularly in his replications of "tone and sound play of the Slovenian originals." The sophistication of translation is also remarkable given the "complex layering" that "is characteristic of Šteger’s poems."  The review also praises Šteger for his "dry, observant humor" and his imagery, both "dark" and "descriptive." "It's one of the best collections of poetry in translation in recent memory,"...

A review of Sean Thomas Dougherty's Sasha Sings the Laundry on the Line is in the current issue of H_NG M_N, an online journal of poetry, prose, etc.  The reviewer highlights the book's "back-story," a story in which "Dougherty, a self-described underground sound, makes music of his comings and goings, of his staying home for a while and then traveling out into the world again." The review goes on to note the importance of sound in these lyric poems, which "[hang] these sounds out like shirts and pants and socks between the highest stories, lines of words patterned between our...

[caption id="attachment_1017" align="aligncenter" width="196" caption="This New & Poisonous Air. Stories by Adam McOmber."][/caption] Adam McOmber's forthcoming book, This New & Poisonous Air, was recently reviewed by Donna Seaman for Booklist.  The review in its entirety is printed here: "In his first book, a collection of short stories that ventures into fable, myth, and fairy tale, McOmber's language is so finely burnished it nearly achieves invisibility.  Most of these mysterious tales are set in the past, and all involve strange, even macabre embodiments of forbidden passions. in the title story, a girl abandoned by her father after the bubonic plague claims...

[caption id="attachment_1016" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Remnants of Another Age. Poems by Nikola Madzirov."][/caption]   3:AM Magazine writer SJ Fowler recently conducted an interview with BOA Editions poet Nikola Madzirov. Madzirov's new book, Remnants of Another Age, came out March 15th, but, as Fowler points out in his introduction, Madzirov is already a significant, seasoned author in Macedonia. The interviewer poses questions that span the length and breadth of Madzirov's poetic career, but also asks him to consider what it means to be a Macedonian poet, and what the feeling for poetry is in his home country. Madzirov's response is charcteristically lyric...

This past Saturday, BOA participated in its own version of the "flash mob": the Pop-Up Poetry Reading. This took place at the Rochester Contemporary Arts Center at both 1 and 4 in the afternoon. The phrase "BOA Is Here" was the cue that the reading had begun! Below are photos from the event, which included readings from Cindy Rogers, Bernadette Catalana, and Peter Conners. Cindy Rogers Bernadette Catalana Peter Conners