Poet Ross Gay tasked himself with what sounds like a job for a Hallmark greeting card writer: he spent a year looking for things that gave him joy, be they people, places, or events big or small. Unlike the sentiments usually found on schmaltzy greeting cards, though, the brief prose essays that Gay has written …
Poetry is all around us and April is National Poetry Month! Here are some favorite new poetry books for children from Green Bean Books in Portland, OR: *Everything Comes Next by Naomi Shihab Nye *A Songbird Dreams of Singing: Poems about Sleeping Animals by Kate Hosford with illustrations by Jennifer M. Potter *Construction People by …
by Shann Ray Published in the Inlander March 21, 2020 Have you ever heard the voice of a loved one speaking over you with unexpected kindness? In times of stress, that voice can be almost unbearably rare. I’ve been thinking about how the 24-hour news cycle is often far from gentle, not at all concerned with …
“In the years since I was last light-starved, hell-bent on your half-cocked lure I have kept the moon on all night in my own way, by listening, by not forgetting it is there. Small witchery.” Skaja’s debut poetry collection, winner of the Walt Whitman Award, is an unearthing of wilderness and womanhood, from the raw …
Fireside Books of Palmer, AK was chosen as Shelf Awareness‘s Chalkboard of the Day: Fireside Books in Palmer, Alaska, shared a photo on Facebook of yesterday’s celebrate-two-holidays-on-one-chalkboard creation. The message: “Happy St. George’s Day & Shakespeare’s Birthday! 14% off purchase if you recite a sonnet (or a limerick–we’re not picky)! Spend $25 and we’ll give you a …
“Written in memory of women and girls killed in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and for all women and girls who are victims of domestic violence.” —from the dedication of Killing Marías Claudia Castro Luna was the first author I had the pleasure of hosting here at Elliott Bay in our Readings Room. Washington State Poet Laureate, Seattle …
From the Island Books newsletter April 17, 2019 I’ve been writing poetry, or something resembling that, consistently since I was eleven years old. I’ve always liked words, the energy, the power, and the meanings that all vary. Unlike prose writing, poetry offers up a canvas of possibility in its negative space. I found I was …
“I’ve always thought of them, of the poems, as being very private investigations and negotiations of a space that I can’t quite figure out—they’re where I wrestle with what I both resist and am drawn to.” I can’t stop reading and rereading Phillips’s poems. They are carefully considered but always unsettled, restlessly looking to reveal, …
Looking for some new poetry to celebrate National Poetry Month? The booksellers of King’s Books in Tacoma, WA have some recommendations for you. Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart – Alice Walker OMG, Alice Walker is prophetic and historic, full of nostalgia, passion, and hope. I couldn’t put this collection down. You will easily …
Sit down. Right here in the aisle is fine. Get your phone, put in earbuds. Go to YouTube. Watch Li-Young Lee read his poem”This Room and Everything in It.” Buy this book. –Shawn, Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA Immerse yourself in poetry at Elliott Bay Book Company and other independent bookstores.
