{"title":"Dan Albergotti","description":"Dan Albergotti is the author of two collections of poetry: \u003cem\u003eMillennial Teeth\u003c\/em\u003e (Southern Illinois University Press, 2014), selected by Rodney James as the winner of the 2013 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition; and \u003cem\u003eThe Boatloads\u003c\/em\u003e (BOA, 2008), which was selected by Edward Hirsch as the winner of the A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize. Albergotti has been a scholar at the Sewanee and Bread Loaf writers’ conferences and a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. He is professor and Chair of the English Department at Coastal Carolina University.","products":[{"product_id":"the-boatloads","title":"The Boatloads","description":"\u003cp\u003ePerhaps the most distinctive aspect of \u003cem\u003eThe Boatloads\u003c\/em\u003e is its overt references to church and Christianity. Albergotti’s references are not mere proselytizing though. In fact, the first poem in the book – Vestibule – tells the story of the author’s teenage experience making love to his girlfriend in a university chapel, saying, “Lord of this other world, let me recall that night.\/Let me again hear how our whispered exclamations\/near the end seemed like rising hymnal rhythm\/and let me feel how those forgotten words came\/from somewhere else and meant something.” Albergotti manages to depict the struggles, joys, confusion, and striving of a young man coming to terms with his religious upbringing and making decisions about how that training will play out in his adult life. In his eyes, the path to salvation is crooked and meandering, but never broken. \"Dan Albergotti’s first book, The Boatloads, is filled with the spirit of mystery. It is a startling achievement that begins in wonder and ends in awe.\"--Edward Hirsch \"This extraordinary poem, at first comic and blasphemous, is really about relocating and defining the sacred...Even if it weren't the winner of the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, The Boatloads would still be an impressive debut.\"--The Hudson Review \"Albergotti’s gift is a lyrical reinvention of stories that we thought we knew.  In poems that are immediate and accessible, he considers God, beauty, love, and lives that unexpectedly match our own.\" –Ron Slate Blog\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Mystery of the Great Blue Heron\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The poet tries to make the heron a god,\u003cbr\u003e but the heron does not care. The heron\u003cbr\u003e wades along the shore, a dark body\u003cbr\u003e absorbing light, patience stopping time.\u003cbr\u003e The poet makes sounds like prayer,\u003cbr\u003e but the heron is merely annoyed, stepping\u003cbr\u003e into the air and pulling with broad wings.\u003cbr\u003e The poet carefully records a sacred text,\u003cbr\u003e but the heron has found a hidden pool \u003cbr\u003e among the small trees and stands there\u003cbr\u003e all day, staring coldly into the water, \u003cbr\u003e far from the songs, from the blood, \u003cbr\u003e from all the voices that beg for mercy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e © BOA Editions, Ltd 2008 \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Available editions: \u003cbr\u003e -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \u003cbr\u003e Paperback ISBN: 978-1-934414-03-3\u003cbr\u003e Price: $16.00\u003cbr\u003e Publishing Date: April 2008\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":null,"offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":8419021637,"sku":"978-1-934414-03-3","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/products\/file_116.jpeg?v=1527683359"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/collections\/Dan_Albergotti.jpg?v=1452791148","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/collections\/dan-albergotti.oembed","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}