Dikter

જ્યારે જેવા વિચાર અનુભવ્યા તેનું આલેખન થતું ગયું. આપોઆપ શબ્દ સ્ફૂર્તા ગયા ને કવિતાની રચના થતી ગઈ. એક સ્ત્રી તરીકે સ્ત્રીની વેદના રજૂ કરતી રચનાઓનું પ્રાધાન્ય વધારે છે એટલે આમ જોવા જઈએ તો સમગ્ર સ્ત્રી જાતિ માટે આ પોતાનું પુસ્તક છે. આ માત્ર મારું પ્રથમ પુસ્તક નહીં પણ વર્ષોથી જોયેલું સાકાર થતું મારું સપનું છે. આ પુસ્તકમાં વાંચવા મળશે તમને તમારા જ વિચારોનું વમળ સાહિત્યમાં મારું આ પ્રથમ પગલું છે.

Antonin Artaud's last large-scale work, published in its complete form in English for the first time. Drawings on texts and letters dating from 1946, some of them written while he was still confined at the Rodez psychiatric hospital, Artaud devoted the months of November 1946 to February 1947 to completing his book through a long series of vocal improvisations titled Interjections, dictated at his pavilion on the edge of Paris. He cursed the assassins he believed were on their way there to steal his semen, to make his brain go "up in smoke as under the action of one of those machines created to suck up filth from the floor," and finally to erase him. The publisher who had commissioned the book, Louis Broder, was horrified at reading its incandescent, fiercely obscene, and anti-religious manuscript and refused to publish it. Ambitious and experimental in scale, fragmentary and ferocious in intent, it was not published until 1978, in an edition prepared by Artaud's close friend Paule Thévenin. Artaud commented that it was an "impossible" book, and that "nobody has ever read it from end to end, not even its own author." Clayton Eshleman, together with his translation collaborators such as David Rattray, began work soon after 1978 on an English-language edition, with extracts appearing especially in Eshleman's poetry magazine, Sulfur. But they, too, were unable to take forward the publication of the book. This volume presents it in its complete form in English for the first time.

Julia Frazier White, Ph.D., is a mother, grandmother, Sunday school teacher, and editor for technical and scholarly writing projects. Dr White. retired from IBM Corporation as a Senior Systems Engineer. After her retirement, she was recruited by Georgia Pacific Corporation as a Manager of Systems Development. Presently, Dr. White is pursuing a dream of hers to write books. Her published writings include: Forgiveness: Learning How to forgive; Poems, Prose and Prayers: A Lifetime of Reflection. She is co-author of George Liele's Life and Legacy: An Unsung Hero (The James N. Griffith Endowed Series in Baptist Studies). Dr. White is working on two other books: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Parents: A Tribute to My Parents; and Journey to Wellness: Overcoming an Incurable Disease. She delivers workshops and speeches on forgiveness and other inspirational topics. Julia holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics with minors in chemistry and German, a master's degree in management and project management, and a doctorate degree in Christian counseling. Dr. White has three children: Richard Frazier White (attorney), Anthony Brewer White (cyber security), and Cheryl Ann White (Teacher and Tutor). Dr. White enjoys her grandchildren Lucas and Sofia. Dr. White enjoys retirement yet leads a very busy life writing, tutoring, playing tennis, engaging in water aerobics, traveling, playing cards, and working with her favorite volunteer activities.

NOS LETTRES D'ASIEVersion couleurDe Saint-John Perse à François ChengL'Asie est présente dans la littérature de langue française depuis bien longtemps, des Lettres d'Asie de Saint-John Perse au Japon contemporain d'Amélie Nothomb. Mais on ignore parfois que de nombreux auteurs asiatiques écrivent en français et que nombre de grands noms de la littérature en français sont originaires d'Asie... Qu'on pense à Aki Shimazaki, Eun-Jan Kang, Akira Mizubayashi, Ook Chung, Ryöko Sekiguchi, Ying Chen, Shan Sa, Dai Sijie, Wèi Wéi, Ya Ding et bien sûr le célèbre François Cheng, Membre de l'Académie française. À l'occasion du premier festival des auteurs francophones à Kuala Lumpur le 24 mars 2024, RENCONTRE DES AUTEURS FRANCOPHONES a donc invité ses membres à explorer ce mariage entre la littérature de langue française et l'Asie, en rendant hommage au continent asiatique et à ceux qui l'écrivent en français. Ce voyage en Asie rassemble vingt-cinq textes rédigés par des auteurs passionnés, enthousiastes à l'idée de laisser courir les mots pour leur rendre hommage. Nouvelles, poèmes, réflexions, textes, illustrations... Nous vous invitons à découvrir ce que l'Asie leur inspire et à vous plonger dans les carnets de voyage de Pom Ehrentrant, notre Ambassadrice en Malaisie. Le livre comporte de très nombreuses illustrations et photos en couleurDirection éditoriale: Anna Alexis Michel. Direction artistique: Sandra Encaoua Berrih.Rencontre des Auteurs Francophones, fondée à New York en 2020 par Sandrine Mehrez Kukurudz, regroupe près de 400 auteurs de 50 pays et territoires du monde. C'est une plate-forme qui offre une activité quotidienne aux auteurs et lecteurs. C'est un réseau dynamique, implanté aujourd'hui sur quatre continents et dirigé par des passionnés francophones.www.RencontreDesAuteursFrancophones.comUn ouvrage de la collection "Hommage"(c) Éditions Rencontre des Auteurs FrancophonesÉtats-Unis d'Amérique - 2024

In City Full of Fireworks & Blues Stephen Cramer collects a series of lyric poems that explore both love and loss with a taut musicality that enters the reader's very musculature. Though the book often features the emotional or intellectual skirmishes that are common to all, it is far more of a celebration than a dirge. "Let us learn," one of the poems offers, "the way cries inherit our breath, the way 1,000 facets of song can inhabit the mouth."

FINALIST FOR THE 2024 CHANGES BOOK PRIZE JUDGED BY LOUISE GLÜCK & EILEEN MYLES The poems of Dream State arise from the poet’s experience living and working in Iraq, not as a soldier or journalist, but as a writer, translator, teacher, and preservationist of Kurdish culture. In a stunning act of cogenerative imagination, Levinson-LaBrosse’s poetic voice emerges alongside the voices of others with whom she has collaborated. Together with her poems, these translated memories, testimonies and stories form an interdependent environment bridging time and perception. As a book, Dream State resists categorization. And yet it is fundamentally accessible in its humanity. People come together in understanding, and break apart just as quickly. Fictions shatter and endure, while national imaginations always seem to be at risk. And everywhere the poet turns, she learns that peace is never self-sustaining. True peace is an enduring act of courage, and one that must be lived everyday. As the 2003 Iraq invasion reached its twentieth anniversary (2023) and the Islamic State’s attempted genocide in Shingal reaches its tenth (2024), Dream State attempts to sit with other people’s experiences, rather than extract details to exploit them; amplifies the work around the poet, rather than supplant it; and trusts that listening to individual perspectives will lead to common understanding.

These days 'nature poetry' is often disparaged as irrelevant in modern society with the presumption that poets should be writing poems about humans: our suffering, our problems, our wars, prejudices, and injustices. In our culture of money, nature is mostly devalued as scenery or as an exploitable resource, a place to cut timber, extract minerals, and divert water for manufacturing. These powerful and accessible poems of loss and praise view nature as a resource-to assist in our awakening. They challenge us to find the spiritual in the everyday, the sacred in the secular. They examine the natural world as a local expression of the cosmos. By exploring mountains and rivers they move toward a fusion with the geography of our inner world, showing that in the mindfulness created by our experiences of nature lies our best hope of addressing human problems. As well as notes from the wilderness they include news from the edge of consciousness, wintry prayers, and the happiness of the ordinary, even within the context of ecological peril. These are poems with an intricate sense of our connection to the natural world for a disconnected time. "Poetry, for me, is an instrument of investigation and a mode of perception, a way of knowing and feeling both self and world...I am interested in poems that find a clarity without simplicity; in a way of thinking and speaking that does not exclude complexity but also does not obscure; in poems that know the world in many ways at once-heart, mind, voice, and body." -Jane Hirshfield, judge of the 2024 Wildhouse Poetry Chapbook Contest

ForewordRenowned Poets: Nazım Hikmet The March 2024 issue of our international monthly book, The Year of the Poet, has its focus on the Turkish modernist poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, memoirist and activist Nazım Hikmet. As a native from Turkey-born, raised and schooled there, who independently studied the books of this "Blue-Eyed Giant" after the ban on them was lifted in 1965, I assert that his life and works demand voluminous analyses . . . a task that cannot be completed within the constraints of this text. Being acutely aware of the challenge at hand, I shall resort to your understanding for the brevity of my words. A few factual glimpses on the personal and literary phenomenon that the name Nazım Hikmet embodies will have to suffice. One three-step-fact remains unchanged; namely, that Nazım is universally acknowledged as Turkey's exceptional modern poet but also as a world poet, and has exhausted-continues to exhaust-the research venues of countless minds at home as well as abroad. Nazım Hikmet was born in 1902 as Mehmet Nazım Ran in Selânik and raised in Istanbul. When Turkey was occupied by her allies after World War I, he left for the Soviet Union [sic]. His higher education included his degree in Economics and Sociology at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East in Moscow. It is there where Russian Futurists and Symbolists, writers and visual artists, as well as Lenin's ideology influenced him. When the Turkish War of Independence resulted in the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1924, Hikmet returned to Turkey. Soon after his return to his beloved motherland Turkey, Nazım started working for Aydınlık, a liberal newspaper. Having stigmatized his person and his work as "Communist", the Turkish state banned his poems. In addition, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sedition but fled to the Soviet Union, returning to Turkey in 1928 and settling in İstanbul. There, he worked at various newspapers and magazines and film studios, published his first poetry books and wrote his plays (1928-1932). In 1938, Nazım Hikmet was charged as a "traitor" for the crime of inciting the Turkish armed forces to revolt. He was sentenced to 28 years and 4 months in prison. After serving approximately 11 years of his sentence, an international campaign fought for his release. A committee that included Pablo Picasso, Paul Robeson, and Jean-Paul Sartre was formed in 1949, and in the spring of 1950, Hikmet began a hunger strike in protest of the Turkish Parliament for its failure to include an amnesty law in its agenda before it closed for the upcoming general election. He was freed under the forgiveness law of 1950 at last. As the recorded numbers and facts of history reveal, much of Nazım Hikmet's life was spent behind prison walls: 17 years in Turkish prisons and another 12 years in exile. After his death of a heart attack in Moscow in 1963, his works continued to be banned in Turkey until 1965. Multiple decades after his death, highly justified celebrations are being conducted around the world for this "Blue-Eyed Giant", as Nazım Hikmet became to be known posthumously. Knowing now that he knew to say "I lived", it seems only appropriate for us to conclude our brief visit with his own celebratory words: [...] hülya n. yılmaz, Ph.D. Professor Emerita (Liberal Arts), Penn State, U.S.A.Director of Editing Services atInner Child Press International, U.S.A.

Preface The journey to Egypt was a life changing experience. Flashbacks floating down the Nile River embraced me with memories bubbling in the solitude of a river's flow. With each day I was caught in the moment of a revelation of connection through time and space. My muse challenged me to capture my visions and wrap words around what I was seeing, feeling, hearing throughout the landscape that tickled and teased my soul. I felt a wave of redemption bathe my soul in the light of humility and the blessing of an eagle's vision. This collection rides on the waves of past lives that grabbed me in the reverent walks through the temples and tombs of a regal civilization and my connection to that landscape and people of that era. This was a growth opportunity on my personal journey into a window of time. The stories on the walls gave me lights of understanding to move my learning curve forward. The recognition that every encounter is an opportunity to expand our consciousness is a gift. Enlightenment comes in subtle ways. Every breath, every step, every thought, every utterance from the temple and tomb walls sent messages to me at every moment I was ready to receive the voice of ancient tongues. I float in gratitude for the exposure to this ancient history that weighed heavily on my heart strings. I felt the load of a civilization rising from the sand in my dreams and meditations across a two-week time span of now that floated back 4000 plus years. My muse is still singing and dancing to the unveiled lyrics of ancient Egypt. The power of Spirit to call us out is available to all souls. Each of us is a messenger and a seeker on different pathways to our destination. Our experiences and reactions are individually different. Those differences are tools for learning and growth when we embrace the writing of others. May you be moved by the intensity of my time travel shapeshifting between the land of Egypt and my beloved New Mexico home. I pay homage to the eleven souls and our tour guide who shared this journey with me and the everlasting bond we made in the heat of the Egyptian Desert and the royal comfort of our Egyptian yacht. Each one of us assimilated knowledge in our own personal way. But the laughter we shared and the moments of awesome recognition of the power of what we saw melded our energy in positive memories. Teresa E. GallionBlessingsFebruary 2024

Poems about celestial and mortal bodies. The Radiant explores the psychological, physical, and spiritual challenges of living in a body and the changes and distortions that arise from the experience of the body's limitations and inevitable death. The collection takes its title from the term for the point from which all meteors appear to emanate during a shower, luminous bodies in decay that when traced to their origin seem to converge at a single point. "Perhaps you can remember the time called before, the all-you-can-do-is-see-yourself-in-a-split-second where you recognize that everything you've ever known is going to be different after," writes Goett in the collection's final poem, "The Bookman," recounting radiant points of no return and transformation that, in spite of their challenge, remain luminous.

Poems that radiate with incredible artistic vision and writerly craft. Pain, piercing, and language: with urgent lyricism and lacunae on the page, The Right Hand explores the physical, emotional, and philosophical experiences of chronic pain, bodywork (especially acupuncture), and healing. In the second half of the collection, the poet spends extended time with Bernini's sculpture of St. Teresa in Ecstasy in Rome, finding this famous scene of wounding to be in dialogue with her own experience of pain, as well as her suspension between languages and spiritual isolation. In The Right Hand, the hidden sites of the body speak, and Bernini's centuries-old arrow pierces us with hurting eloquence.

The conclusion of G. C. Waldrep's trilogy exploring chronic illness. In The Opening Ritual, G. C. Waldrep contends with the failure of the body, the irreducible body, in the light of faith. What can or should "healing" mean when it can't ever mean "wholeness" again? And what kind of architecture is "mercy" when we live inside damage? These are poems that take both the material and the spiritual seriously, that cast their unsparing glances toward "All that is not / & could never be a parable." The collection concludes with a sequence of truly grand meditations on spiritual consciousness--in one the poet notes how, in the stillness of contemplation, the world begins to hum and resound with music. The Opening Ritual attends to and fashions its song from that music.

Rosa Lane brings a necessary, gender-fluid, feminist perspective to the Emily Dickinson table of debate. In bold tribute with a title utilizing the last two words Emily Dickinson wrote, Rosa Lane's Called Back converses with one of our greatest poets in theatrical monologue--decoding secrets amid the blatant. Evoked by epigraphs selected from Dickinson's work, Lane's poems, through her I-speaker, reveal the extraordinary to be found in the ordinary and speak to the struggle of sexual orientation, otherness, and the challenges of living in a Calvinistic socioreligious world of oughts and noughts as evidenced in Dickinson's poems. From sapphic eroticism and subsequent pangs of nonbelonging to tacking next life as a welcome reprieve, poems in Called Back create a de novo dot-connecting lyrical narrative.

Everybody has a story to tell, and this story is told in a most unique way-through the beauty, rhythm, and honesty of poetry.The author's story is one that has yet to be completed or even reach its peak, but he has experienced many things in his thirty-five years of life-joy, sorrow, struggle, and triumph. From childhood to adulthood, he has continued to grow as a person through each time of joy and challenge. As you read the words in this book, may you reminisce about your own youth and the experiences that created the person you are today. That's a wonderful thing! Take a journey back through the years as you journey through each page of poems, celebrating how far you have come and how far you will go in the future.

Rafael Alberti's collection of poems set in vibrant Rome, his home in exile from Spain. After his long exile in France and Argentina following the Spanish Civil War, Rafael Alberti's final home in exile was Rome, where he wrote Roma: Peligro para caminantes (Rome: Pedestrians Beware). There, Romulus and Remus sneak down to the Tiber to suckle on feral cats, a jack of all trades pisses on the poet's shoes, whistling as he walks away, and in the Campo de' Fiori the poet compares sonnets with the wandering spirit of Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, all in the shadow of the glory of Rome's imperial ruins. Two suites of sonnets open and close the book, while in between, Alberti displays masterful poems in metered and free verse, rhyming couplets, and a numbered series of short poems. The blending of classical tradition with post-modern echoes the darkness and luminosity that exist within the poems, tinged with longing, nostalgia, love, as well as hope. In the end, the Eternal City is a refuge for Alberti: "I left for you all that I once held dear. / Oh Rome, my sorrow pleads, hold out your hands / and give me everything I left for you." This unique trilingual edition features exquisite and nuanced translations in English and Italian from the original Spanish by Anthony Geist and Giuseppe Leporace alongside visually evocative photographs of Rome by Adam Weintraub. Readers will want to take this poetic walk in Rome since what sometimes elicits caution, an aspect of danger, also becomes a destination for discovery.

A memorable debut collection that explores colonial and generational trauma. In this striking debut, Dorsía Smith Silva explores the devastating effects of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico, highlighting the natural world, the lasting impact of hurricanes, and the marginalization of Puerto Ricans. These poems also focus on the multiple sites of oppression in the United States, especially the racial, social, and political injustices that occur every day. Smith Silva writes with a powerful, gripping voice, confronting the "drowning" of disenfranchised communities as they are displaced, exploited, and robbed of their identities, but remain resilient. Written with unflinching language and vivid imagery, In Inheritance of Drowning reveals the many facets of the lives of marginalized people.

A stunning poetry collection that offers solace and understanding. Jack Ridl's latest collection, All at Once, is structured as a lyrical collage that looks back at his eighty years of life in a rearview mirror. Nothing eludes this poet's attention, reflection, or unbridled joy. Ridl's poems, written in a direct style and tender voice, bring together mismatched meditations, leading us to experience the reality that neither ourselves nor wherever we are is one-sided. These poems are musings on loss and grief, softly interwoven with devotion, human connection, and love. In the words of his daughter when she was seven years old, "Daddy, 'with' is the most important word in the world because we are always 'with.'" Each person reveals infinite realities of "with." All at Once is for anyone in need of companionship or a gentle smile.

Embark on an intimate journey into this very personal collection of soul-baring poetry. From my tumultuous teens through my turbulent twenties, I confronted addiction and mental health challenges. In the depths of my despair, poetry offered me solace and hope. With each verse, I strive to embolden those wrestling with similar demons, inspiring them to conquer and overcome. For others, I hope to illuminate the paths of loved ones walking similar battles. It is with both humility and honor that I share these words, allowing readers into the raw landscape of my soul.

"Embark on a Poetic Journey of Identity and Resilience with Assimilated Natives: A Collection of Borderland Poems Exploring the Complexities of Chicanx Heritage in America"Discover the world of ASSIMILATED NATIVES, a compelling collection of borderland poems that delves deep into the intricate identity of a third-plus generation Chicanx. Through the eloquence of poetry, the author embarks on a poignant and introspective journey, shedding light on the profound impact of forced assimilation into American culture on the intricate tapestry of cultural practices. These poems intricately weave a narrative that vividly portrays the disruption and transformation of age-old traditions, capturing the struggle of navigating the tension between heritage and assimilation."In ASSIMILATED NATIVES, Gume Laurel shares stories about grief and identity, about history and conflict, about the desire to find love and 'to be at home and whole in [his] own skin.' It's a rare thing to find a poet so willing to be open with his heart, so real. Laurel speaks from the border the way that many of us who carry the border within us recognize intimately--because the border never leaves us, because the border shapes the way we think and breathe and love and write."--ire'ne lara silva, author of Cuicacalli / House of Song and the eaters of flowers"Gume Laurel III's poetry is a bold examination of the self as it explores the interstitial spaces of his native borderlands in beautifully crafted poems. The ghost of a culture lost through generational assimilation roams this collection, and Laurel, like so many of us, must confront the complexities of the specter to come to terms with it. Poems like 'Little Joto' and 'A Heritage Reborn' are potent reminders that borders are inherently queer spaces, and that identity is ultimately fluid. A thoughtful and moving collection of essential poetry for our time."--César L. De León, author of Speaking with Grackles by Soapberry Trees"ASSIMILATED NATIVES is a deeply introspective collection of poetry that explores the multifaceted nature of cultural and personal identity. Gume delves into the themes of love, grief, mental health, queerness and latinidad, exploring the challenges of finding a sense of belonging in the Rio Grande Valley, where the border between the US and Mexico blurs. He grapples with the impact of assimilation on self-expression, questioning what it means to truly belong in a world that values conformity over authenticity. In this collection he has found a way to harness his voice to challenge readers to reflect on their own identities, and the impact of assimilation on our society." - Chibbi Orduña, author of Otro/PatriaPoetry. Literary Nonfiction. Family & Relationships. Latinx Studies. LGBTQ+ Studies.

In his debut full-length poetry collection, Alejandro Jimenez takes readers on a journey of self-discovery and introspection as he grapples with the profound concept of 'home.' With a new and old country as his backdrop, he skillfully weaves a tapestry of verse that delves into the essence of belonging, identity, and the interconnectedness of people, culture, nostalgia, and the beautiful complexities of the human spirit.

Prepare to descend into the haunting depths of the human psyche with INKBLOTS, a mesmerizing dark poetry collection by the enigmatic wordsmith Jeff Oliver. Paired with the visceral imagery of artist Andrew Fremder, this collaboration delves into the shadows of the mind, inviting readers to confront the unsettling truths that lurk within.Within the pages of INKBLOTS, Jeff Oliver weaves a tapestry of madness and reality, beckoning readers to explore a realm where sanity unravels and the boundaries between fear and existence blur. The verses resonate with the echoes of screaming ghosts, introducing a cast of haunting friends who feel more like razor sharp claws and searing flames. The hourglass of life holds prices, and shame has no escape.As the reader navigates through the darkest corners of this journey, the truth emerges as both a relentless pursuer and a haunting fear. Jeff Oliver's verses peel back layers of self-worth, revealing the monstrous transformation that occurs when one succumbs to the shadows within. INKBLOTS is a journey into the heart of one's own darkness, a visceral exploration of truth and the harrowing consequences of refusing to confront one's own reality.Andrew Fremder's evocative illustrations, deeply intertwined with Jeff Oliver's words, bring the darkness to life on the pages of INKBLOTS. Each interpretation of the artist mirrors the intensity of the poetry, capturing the essence of the macabre landscapes and monstrous embodiments within.INKBLOTS is not merely a collection; it's an immersive experience, an unsettling sojourn into the recesses of the human soul. Jeff Oliver and Andrew Fremder invite you to embrace the shadows, confront the truth, and discover the chilling beauty that emerges from the depths of darkness. Are you ready to peer into the inkblots of your own existence?

Can Buddhists Wear Mascara? features narrative poems deeply informed by the author's life. Through an unapologetic exploration of her own contradictions, Anderson highlights dualities that live in all of us. Her humor (and occasional irreverence) softens the edges of truths that otherwise cut too close to bone. In the abundance of poems exploring the human condition, her voice is both singular and compelling.

"And This House is Only a Nest begins with an abuelo-a grandpa-who is not the gentle sort but one that conjures up fear, anger, work, stubbornness, and resilience. Then a peek at the poet's father, his mother, the mocosos on his street, classmates, locos sparking up joints, misinterpreted Bible passages, soccer as metaphor-realistic scenes rendered like Dutch paintings. One of the best poems references the Los Angeles Dodgers, the late innings, with 'three kids, two strikes... while visiting his imprisoned father. Surrounded by troubles in the initial poems, the last poems soften into a coda that is something like a sigh, a sigh of relief leaving that 'lopsided' house called childhood. Having searched for an adult man to emulate, the poet discovers, to his surprise and ours, that he has become that man, a husband, a father, a contemplative figure."-Gary Soto, author of Baseball in April and Other Stories

Sonets from the Chesapeke is a collection of American sonets by poet, playwright, and author Stephen Evans.An American sonet is a verse form with 12 lines, two stanzas of five lines each and one final couplet.

A disciple, fool, and pious heretic, Daniel Jami weaves a map of poems, from separation to union and back again. Inviting the reader into the mythic realm of Love, Lover, and Beloved, this contemporary collection explores traditional motifs of Sufism's 'school of love, ' through an interspiritual lens, in modern American language.

Jackie Craven toys with time in WHISH, winner of the 2024 Press 53 Award for Poetry. Surreal prose blocks follow the uneasy relationship between a wistful narrator and shape-shifting characters-managers, bookkeepers, secretaries-who manifest as hours of the day. "It's rare to find such perfect prose poetry," says series editor, Tom Lombardo. "Jackie Craven's abrupt swerves and disruptive metaphors drop readers off cliffs, repeatedly." Startling, provocative, and darkly comical, WHISH speeds along a "quantum highway" where memory and loss plume into stained glass light.

所有其他受聖靈默示的作者，只能講述在遙遠的將來，或迫在眉睫的事，惟有這位蒙福的作者，雖然出生在創世完成許多個世代之後，卻被至高的神引領，配得敘述萬有之主在起初的創造。 -- 愛琴海

Inspired by the Greek myth of Alcestis, this poetry collection brings to life myriad voices who venture beyond the known world and exist between realities. In Greek mythology, Alcestis descends to the mysterious kingdom of death in her beloved's place. In The Alcestis Machine, Carolyn Oliver's second poetry collection, loss and queer desire echo across the multiverse. "In another life, I'm a . . ." sea witch or swineherd, vampire or troubadour, florist or fossil or museum guard, Oliver writes. These parallel personas inhabit space stations and medieval villages, excavate the Devonian seabed, and plumb a subterranean Anthropocene. In possible futures and imagined pasts, they might encounter "all wrong turns and broken signs" or carry "a suitcase full of stars." Oliver's poems are animated by lush, unsettling verse and forms both traditional and experimental. The Alcestis Machine demonstrates how very present absence can be and how desire knows no boundaries. In neighborhood subdivisions or the vast reaches of space, it's impossible to know "whose time is slipping / again." Anyone "could come loose / from gravity's shine."

BLACK LIVES MATTER! Released during Black History Month, this collection, featuring three distinct voices in conversation, offers readers an experience of protest, engagement, and sympathy evoked by the Civil War yet set against the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. Al Salehi is a Persian-American poet and entrepreneur whose parents immigrated from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Ivy Schweitzer is a writer and scholar from a Brooklyn Jewish family. Salehi and Schweitzer use Emily Dickinson's incomparable poems written during the mid-nineteenth century as entry points for their own meditations on still-pressing issues of color, fairness, the police and courts, even the 45th president, and how together we can imagine a different, more equitable world. Though a cloud of darkness pervades Within Flesh, it also contains glimmers of hope and resilience through humor and satire-showing that poetry can transcend time and borders, sparking healing conversations across cultures and generations.

The poems in Northern Swim grieve a beloved sister's death during other losses of the pandemic, framed against havoc in the human and more-than-human worlds. But among poems of American malaise and climate change you'll also find Florence Griswold, godmother of American impressionists; the fashion designer Alexander McQueen; Eve's secret daughter; Elgar's chamber music and the Do Rights lead guitar. Though the poems are often elegiac they celebrate pleasures-"Snowshoeing at Seventy," a newborn grandson, museum-going, desserts with family and friends, an exhilarating swim in an icy lake-what offers resilience and lures us ahead: "I won't let the bear get all the berries."