From the category archives:

2009-10 Valparaiso Poetry Review

Fair Creatures of an Hour by Lynn Levin

November 18, 2009

Lynn Levin‘s Fair Creatures of an Hour is a collection of poetry that draws on current events — Smarty Jones in “Little Red Telegram” and skydivers Sara Loshe and Ron Samac in “Freefall” — imagery, and culture to draw in its readers.  Levin intertwines traditional Jewish rituals and stories into her poems, and interjects a [...]

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More of Me Disappears by John Amen

October 30, 2009

John Amen’s More of Me Disappears is broken down into three separate sections and each poem in each section is accessible, vivid, and explosive.  In a number of poems, Amen’s musical and song writing talents permeate the lines.  However, these are more than rhythmic dances, his work gradually moves toward a vanishing point.  From Verboten [...]

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Carta Marina by Ann Fisher-Wirth

October 29, 2009

Carta Marina was the first largely accurate map of the Northern Countries, completed by the Swedish historian Olaus Magnus in 1539.  Ann Fisher-Wirth has taken her inspiration from this map–complete with its lions, sea monsters, and warriors–for her poem in three parts–Olaus Magnus’ Carta Marina, The Coming of Winter, and Les Tres Riches Neures. “When [...]

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Apologies to an Apple by Maya Ganesan

September 30, 2009

Apologies to an Apple by Maya Ganesan is a breath of fresh air in contemporary poetry.  At eleven years old, Maya has a crisp style and is very observant and critical.  Her poems do not criticize overtly, like some poets that tend to hammer their messages home. “They see the horizon, a smoky gold lineover [...]

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Green Bodies by Rosemary Winslow

July 23, 2009

Rosemary Winslow’s Green Bodies is divided into three parts, with the first section of poems steeped in deep grief and struggle for understanding following the death of a brother. From “To a Fish” (Page 14-15), “I see a knife/once put to me,/bone opened white to daylight,/red floor on concrete.” Many of these poems have an [...]

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Becoming the Villainess by Jeannine Hall Gailey

July 16, 2009

Jeannine Hall Gailey‘s Becoming the Villainess is a unique volume of poetry housing poems steeped in Greek mythology, comic book characters, and more. Gailey’s images are crisp and immediate with recurring uses of pomegranates, wolves, and other items. Alice in Wonderland, Wonder Woman, Persephone, and many more make appearances in Becoming the Villainess, which is [...]

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How to Read a Poem. . . and Start a Poetry Circle by Molly Peacock

June 23, 2009

“I found grown -up poetry to be as spongy as a forest floor–your foot sinks into the pine needles, the air smells mushroomy and dank, and filtered light swirls around you till you’re deep in another state.” (Page Molly Peacock’s How to Read a Poem . . . and Start a Poetry Circle provides a [...]

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