BOA Blog

"Plastic Beatitude", by Laure-Anne Bosselaar, was featured by the Writer's Almanac blog on March 23rd, 2010. The poem is from Bosselaar's 1997 book, The Hour Between Dog and Wolf. In his foreward, Charles Simic describes Bosselaar's work as "an authentic poetic voice, one serious enough to be heard at the end of this long and brutal century." The book captures the lives of "lost souls running," speaking of eccentric, vibrant people, who lived in Europe in the midst of and the fallout from the World Wars. An Exerpt from "Plastic Beatitude": Our neighbors, the Pazzotis, live in a long narrow...

[caption id="attachment_653" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="6x6x2010"][/caption] In 2008, BOA and Rochester Contemporary Arts Center got together to put on Postcards in Jazz. The event featured BOA poet Wyn Cooper reading from Postcards from the Interior (BOA, 2005) along with a jazz combo featuring musicians Chris Azzara, Dave Blask, Jeff Campbell and Mark Kellogg. It took place during the Rochester International Jazz Festival which brings together some of the world's best jazz music for a weeklong celebration. The event was so much fun - we're going to do it again! This year's event (tentatively titled Jazz is Poetry) will feature BOA poet...

[caption id="attachment_639" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Intern Liz Mullins and Peter Conners"][/caption] Last Friday, I attended Traditions and Translations: A Celebration of Japanese Culture at the Memorial Art Gallery as part of BOA Editions. That's me (Intern Liz Mullins) sitting next to Peter Conners, editor. We sat in the foyer of the gallery amidst others selling pertinent wares-- traditional Japanese paintings, kimonos and sake, of course-- as event participants browsed. It was my first outing as a BOA intern and it didn't disappoint. We were there from 2-5PM with several books of poetry by asian artists or in translation, as well as...

[caption id="attachment_630" align="alignleft" width="170" caption="Woman’s silk kimono with rose motif (Taisho period, 1912–26)"][/caption] All day today the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery will be hosting Traditions & Translations: A Celebration of Japanese Culture. The event is a chance to learn more about Japanese culture and how it has influenced our lives. It includes workshops on origami, Japanese woodblock prints, garden design, anime films, a textile demonstration, and much more. BOA has been asked to set up a table at the event to showcase some of our translated books and other select titles. We will be there from 2-5PM with an array...

[caption id="attachment_373" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sharon Bryan. BOA poet."][/caption] The blog Book of Kells is offering a copy of Sharon Bryan's Sharp Stars in honor of the upcoming National Poetry Month. Here's a short description of the contest take from Being Poetry. "Kelli Agodon has started a wonderful celebration of National Poetry Month on her blog Book of Kells. The premise is simple – poets give away a book at the end of National Poetry Month to two different people who have left comments on their blog. If you’re interested in taking part in this project, go to this post to...