BOA Blog

Publishers Weekly recently reviewed Janice N. Harrington’s new book, Primitive: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin. According to the review, "poet and children’s author Harrington pays tribute to African-American painter Horace Pippin (1888–1946), presenting ekphrastic poems about the painter’s work alongside historical insights into his aesthetic choices and his journals."The review offers some background on Pippin’s life, lending insight into why Harrington chose this compelling artist as her subject. Through her poems, Harrington looks at Pippin’s past, especially his time spent as a solider, and how it influenced his art."The artist’s own words lend poignancy to the poems and...

    Two BOA fiction collections were recently reviewed by Micheal Czyzniejewski of Story366: Robin McLean's Reptile House and Douglas Watson's The Era of Not Quite.Focusing on the Reptile House story "Cold Snap," which he says he is "particularly fond of," Czyzniejewski calls the story a "combination of 'Cold Snap' by Thom Jones and Ron Hansen’s 'Wickedness,' with a little Walking Dead thrown in."He says: "Overall, I enjoyed how eclectic this collection comes off, how different Robin McLean is able to make each story, yet how in-depth each world feels, how intimately we get to know each of her protagonists. There’s...

In a new The Journal review of Kathryn Nuernberger’s The End of Pink, reviewer Sonja James calls the book a "volume of substance and wonder." Noting the expansive, motley crew of characters that appear throughout the poems—Benjamin Franklin, Derrida, Bat Boy, and a gnome to name a few—the review also highlights Nuernberger's use of scientific treatises as a source of inspiration and an avenue of exploration."These are poems that activate the imagination of the reader as Nuernberger explores childbirth, motherhood, science, and death in new ways. Nuernberger is unafraid to embrace the weird and the surreal to add to the...

Ron Slate of On The Seawall recently published a new review of Mangalesh Dabral's translated collection of poems, This Number Does Not Exist. The thorough review offers some background on Dabral, including his refusal to accept the Sahitya Akademi prize he was awarded from India's National Academy of Letters."[Dabral] turned down the award and its cash prize in protest over the death of the scholar M.M. Kalburgi, a progressive voice among a cast group called the Lingayat. Dabral was objecting to a wave of intolerance and increasing violence against minorities and dissenters."Slate notes how the poems in the collection are...

Michael Waters's Celestial Joyride was recently included on My San Antonio's featured list of "new collections [that] are perfect for end-of-summer perusal.""Summer officially ends Thursday," starts the feature, "but we all know that summer weather will linger for weeks. Here are four new poetry collections that will stay with you like the last days of summer. These poets—all published by independent imprints—carry forth the excellence of the newest poetry."On Celestial Joyride, the review says: "Michael Waters’ autobiographical poetry looks back to memorable moments, which include his 6-year-old son: 'Is that a log or a dog? he worries. // The poem...