Currently I am reading Floating True by Deborah Jung. Deborah was a Writer to Writer alumni the same time I was (2017). This is her first book and it is a perfect read for the uncertain times we are trapped in. There is a centering to it. A generational span of love and memory through life that is not always so kind.
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I'm presently reading a delicious book written by the Palestinian poet Shatha Abu Hnaish titled A Love That Hovers Like a Bedeviling Mosquito, translated by Francesca Bell and Noor Asder Al A'bed.
These poems are short and awash with a voice that is packed with image & emotion. Translating these poems into English so that more are touched by them is an enormous literary gift. After the first reading, this is a great night stand book for when you have five or ten minutes to read and meditate before lights out. ![]() Today in the mail I received Laura Kasischke's Where Now - New and Selected poems. This is a beautiful hard bound book of like 360+ pages. The publisher is Copper Canyon Press and everything with their imprint is always crazy nice. I met Laura in Kansas City at a reading numerous years ago and bought a copy of her poetry book Gardening in the Dark. I enjoyed it so much that it catapulted Kasischke pretty high on my list of remarkable poets. Frequently I have gone back to Gardening in the Dark when I have been looking for inspiration to get me through a writing funk. It will be joyous to take another journey through her work reading material I've not seen before.
My night stand becomes a catch all for things that I go to from time to time to read from, in addition to new titles that I am reading for the first time.
So what’s on my nightstand right now?
Brought a lot of reading material back from AWP and among them theses two books. These are what I presently am reading. The Bride Minaret by Heather Derr-Smith and Then Come Back - The Lost Neruda Poems. Just prior to leaving for AWP I finished reading Derr-Smith's book Tongue Screw which I will likely review here in the near future.
![]() Arriving in today's mail, Bukowski in a Sundress by Kim Addonizio. So, I will forsake watching the Republican Convention tonight in favor of reading this book. I mean I just don't think the RNC can top Melania Trump's Michelle Obama knock-off speech from last night, I almost always adore Addonizzo's poetry. The edginess, sometimes inappropriateness that you have to admit to yourself, if no one else, makes you cheer her a bit and keeps you coming back for more. Anyway, this is my new read. I'll let you know how it goes. |
AuthorMichael Allyn Wells - notes & musings Archives
September 2020
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