BOA Blog

The Write Question is an NPR show that, "explores the world of writing and publishing in the Western United States." Poulin Prize-winning poet Keetje Kuipers appears on the show today to talk about (and read from) her book, Beautiful in the Mouth, and the writing life. Listen to the show here: [Keetje Kuipers on the Writing Life] Here's the program's introduction to the feature: Keetje Kuipers has a unique way of creating poetry: she walks and puts words to the rhythms of her strides. Once in a while, if a poem gets too long, she'll grab an advertisement out of someone's mailbox and...

The thrust of Wallace Stevens' poem "Not Ideas About the Thing But the Thing Itself" is often repeated as the hard nugget of a quote from William Carlos Williams' poem "A Sort of a Song": "No ideas but in things." If ever a poet's method could be distilled into five words, it is this.  In the newest BOA translation, The Book of Things, (translated from the Slovenian and with an Introduction by Brian Henry), Aleš Šteger simultaneously adopts and discards this poetic advice. Each poem in the book is built around a single, simple noun (or "thing"). For example: Egg, Knots, Stone, Grater, Chocolate, Bread,...

We got great feedback on yesterday's post of Ko Un paintings from Flowers of a Moment (BOA, 2006) translated by Brother Anthony of Taizè , Gary Gach, and Young-moo Kim. So we decided to share some more riches today! [caption id="attachment_990" align="aligncenter" width="238" caption="Ko Un #7"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_991" align="aligncenter" width="232" caption="Ko Un #8"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_992" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ko Un #9"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_993" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ko Un #10"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_994" align="aligncenter" width="228" caption="Ko Un #11"][/caption]

Publishing poetry-in-translation has always been a key part of BOA's activities. Want proof? Just check out BOA's distinguished list of translated poetry titles: [BOA Translations]. Our dedication to translation stepped up a notch when the Lannan Foundation of Santa Fe, New Mexico began providing funding to support our translated books, including generous honorariums to both poets and translators. Since that time, BOA has published 18 translations through our Lannan Translations Selection Series. In each translation, we also include a handwritten poem by the poet which we build into the interior design of the book. In the case of Flowers of a Moment (BOA, 2006)...

BOA is based in Rochester, NY, but our authors and translators live all over the world. So it's always a treat for us to have one of them in town. Tomorrow (8/6) translator Judith Kerman will be in Rochester in support of her new translation, Praises & Offenses: Three Women from the Dominican Republic (BOA, 2009). The event will be held at Greenwood Books, 123East Avenue, Rochester, NY. The reading begins at 7:30pm and is free and open to the public.  Praises & Offenses presents the work of three powerful Dominican poets: Aida Cartagena Portalatín, Angela Hernández Núñez, and Ylonka Nacidit-Perdomo. Judith Kerman began this translation...