BOA Blog

In a thorough review of Devin Becker's recent collection Shame | Shame, Nano Fiction's Sarah Katz notes the poet's ability to "[recast] the prose poem as a selfie, diary entry, or Tweet," while exploring "the contractions and expansions of narrative, and ultimately, [challenging] us to reflect on the impulse to narrate our lives." Much of the review focuses on the collection's complicated, evolving speaker: "As one continues to read Shame | Shame, the bevy of cursory remarks expose a narrator trapped in a cycle of self-immolation in his battle to preserve a fixed notion of the self ... it’s these desultory...

BOA Editions, one of the nation’s leading independent publishers of poetry, literary fiction, and poetry-in-translation, is pleased to announce that 2016 will mark its 40th year bringing high quality literature to the public. The Rochester-based not-for-profit press will celebrate the occasion with a yearlong series of developments and activities, including: a new commemorative logo; a re-launched website and online bookstore; a global video and social media campaign; a celebratory kickoff at AWP 2016 in Los Angeles, among other celebrations around the country; a permanent home for the last decade of its archives; and a Major Gifts Campaign carrying a generous...

In a thoughtful and comprehensive review of G.C. Waldrep's Testament, Kylan Rice of the Colorado Review says, "By turns lyric, antic, and deeply engaged with the affects and effects of language as these come to bear on the human subject, G. C. Waldrep drafted his new book-length poem, Testament, over the course of twelve 'trance-like' days, while in residence at Hawthornden Castle." Likening the new collection to Bernadette Mayer’s Midwinter Day and Georges Perec’s An Attempt at Exhausting A Place In Paris, the review calls Testament "hyper-referential, allusive, as private as it is public or pop. "More than gimmickry, these efforts meditate on textual and poetic...

The Ventura County Reporter has high praise for Marsha de la O and her newest collection Antidote for Night, just released this month by BOA Editions. A Ventura, CA, resident, de la O says her work often explores "a connection between geography and psyche." Southern California may be the main character in de la O's new book, but reviewer Nancy Lackey notes that while many artists have focused on the region, "few see through it with such a personal lens, or with such a yearning for the something better that must be on the other side. "Antidote for Night is visceral,...

James McManus' The Education of a Poker Player has been nominated by Kirkus Reviews editors for the 2015 Kirkus Prize for Fiction! While every book that receives a starred Kirkus review within the year is eligible for the prize, Kirkus editors and staff evaluate each of the eligible books to determine which are most worthy of nomination and prize consideration. The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful...