National Poetry Month was launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996 to celebrate the integral role of poets and poetry in our culture. One of the ways we are celebrating National Poetry Month at the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers is through this discovery list of our favorite poetry collections and poems.…
April is poetry month so we thought we’d share some of our favorite poems and poetry collections. Poetry Collections Dog Songs: Thirty-Five Dog Songs and One Essay by Mary Oliver. Elise Cowen: Poems and Fragments edited by Tony Trigilio. If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho translated by Anne Carson Ariel by Sylvia Plath. Life on…
“A landmark collection of new and published works by one of our finest poets that is a testament to the clarity and thoughtful lyricism of his poems Fire to Fire collects the best works from seven books of poetry by Mark Doty, acclaimed poet and New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs, Firebird and Dog Years. Doty’s subjects—our mortal situation,…
“This is a book-length poem – a collage of water-stories, taken mostly from the Odyssey – about a minor character, abandoned on a stony island. It is not a translation, though, but a close inspection of the sea that surrounds him. There are several voices in the poem but no proper names, although its presiding spirit is…
“Selected by Joy Harjo as the winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets Emily Skaja’s debut collection is a fiery, hypnotic book that confronts the dark questions and menacing silences around gender, sexuality, and violence. Brute arises, brave and furious, from the dissolution of a relationship, showing how such endings necessitate self-discovery…
“A powerful work that examines how―even without country or settled identity―a legacy of love can endure. Eavan Boland is considered “one of the finest and boldest poets of the last half century” by Poetry Review. This stunning new collection, A Woman Without a Country, looks at how we construct one another and how nationhood and history can…
I’m going to kick off the celebration with a project I discovered last year: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Big Read. I was instantly hooked after listening to the first reading (by actor Jeremy Irons—see below—which I may or may not have listened to more than once) and eagerly looked forward to the next…
As I find the process fascinating, how it varies writer by writer, I often go for books on the ins and outs of the craft. The following are titles I’ve enjoyed over the last few months. The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing – Richard Hugo “Richard Hugo, whom Carolyn Kizer called…
A few collections and an anthology I am eager to lean into (that may reappear as recommendations next year during National Poetry Month): Deluge – Leila Chatti “In her early twenties, Leila Chatti started bleeding and did not stop. Physicians referred to this bleeding as flooding. In the Qur’an, as in the Bible, the Flood…
Garvey’s Choice – Nikki Grimes “Garvey’s father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading—anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only…
The Spring 2019 issue of The Paris Review served as my introduction to Franny Choi, in the form of “Amid Rising Tensions on the Korean Peninsula.” I was floored by that poem. Even after reading it untold times I remain astonished by that poem. Shortly after that first encounter I read “Introduction to Quantum Theory,”…
Along with Pagie Lewis’ Star Struck, Abdurraqib’s A Fortune For Your Disaster was another one of my favorite collections released in 2019. (His previous collection, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, might be one of my favorite collections full-stop.) The audiobook – read by Hanif Abdurraqib(!) – is available on Hoopla. About the collection: “In his…
Paige Lewis’ Space Struck claimed a high spot on my list of top five poetry collections released in 2019. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve returned to its pages, to various poems, to single lines. (The entire collection is a standout, but to name just a few of the poems I particularly loved:…
Throughout the month I will be recommending poetry collections available via Hoopla and/or Overdrive. In the meantime, a few related items of note: This snippet from the poem “Pain Can Warn Us Of Danger,” from the 2011 collection by G.C. Waldrep and John Gallaher, Your Father On the Train of Ghosts, is eerily relevant still:…
“Demonstrating the lasting brilliance of her voice and her prophetic vision, Essential Essays showcases Adrienne Rich’s singular ability to unite the political, personal, and poetical. The essays selected here by feminist scholar Sandra M. Gilbert range from the 1960s to 2006, emphasizing Rich’s lifelong intellectual engagement and fearless prose exploration of feminism, social justice, poetry,…
Raptus “Everywhere, a forceful, scrupulous intelligence is active- a luminous diction, a range of cadences.” So has Mark Strand written of the work of Joanna Klink, who has won acclaim for elegant, sensual, and musical poems that “remain alert to the reparations of beauty and song” (Dean Young). The linked poems in Klink’s third collection, Raptus,…
Collected Poems in English – Joseph Brodsky “One of the greatest and grandest advocates of the literary vocation, Joseph Brodsky truly lived his life as a poet, and for it earned eighteen months in an Arctic labor camp, expulsion from his native country, and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Such were one man’s wages. Here,…
“Selected by Ross Gay as winner of the inaugural Jake Adam York Prize, Analicia Sotelo’s debut collection of poems is a vivid portrait of the artist as a young woman. In Virgin, Sotelo walks the line between autobiography and mythmaking, offering up identities like dishes at a feast. These poems devour and complicate tropes of femininity―of…
Collected Poems – Edna St. Vincent Millay’ “Alongside Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, and E. E. Cummings, Millay remains among the most celebrated poets of the early twentieth century for her uniquely lyrical explorations of love, individuality, and artistic expression. This invaluable compendium of her work is not only an essential addition to any…
Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize * Poet Laureate of the United States * * A New York Times Notable Book of 2011 and New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice * * A New Yorker, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * “With allusions to David Bowie and interplanetary travel, Life on Mars imagines a soundtrack for the universe to…
Selected Poems – Thom Gunn “Thom Gunn was an Elizabethan poet in modern guise, though there’s nothing archaic, quaint, or sepia-toned about his poetry. His method was dispassionate and rigorous, uniquely well suited for making a poetic record of the tumultuous time in which he lived. Gunn’s dozens of brilliantly realized poems about nature, friendship,…
“This highly-anticipated debut boldly confronts addiction and courses the strenuous path of recovery, beginning in the wilds of the mind. Poems confront craving, control, the constant battle of alcoholism and sobriety, and the questioning of the self and its instincts within the context of this never-ending fight.” Kaveh Akbar shares and recommends poetry on Twitter,…
Poems – Elizabeth Bishop “Elizabeth Bishop is one of America’s greatest writers, and her art is loved and admired by readers and fellow poets alike. The poems that make up Bishop’s small and select body of work display honesty and humor, grief and acceptance, observing nature and human nature with painstaking accuracy. Her poems often…
A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry – Robert Haas “From the former U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winner, an illuminating dissection of poetic form, traditional and modern, for students, enthusiasts, and newcomers alike In addition to his magisterial poetry, Robert Hass is beloved for his…
National Poetry Month is drawing to a close, but there are many more days left in the year to appreciate and celebrate poetry. Here are two collections that I’ve recently read and thought were knockouts: Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds “In his haunting and fearless debut, Ocean Vuong walks a tightrope of historic…
To celebrate National Poetry Month, we’ve put together a reading list based on the works and lives of New England poets. It’s by no means an exhaustive list; the majority of the poets included here are practically household names (I’m looking at you, Robert Frost. You too, Emily Dickinson). You’ll find below: biographies, letters, fictionalized…
Picnic, Lightning – Billy Collins “Over the past decade, Billy Collins has emerged as the most beloved American poet since Robert Frost, garnering critical acclaim and broad popular appeal. Annie Proulx admits, “I have never before felt possessive about a poet, but I am fiercely glad that Billy Collins is ours.” John Updike proclaims his…
Earth Day is April 22nd! There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day, and one of the ways we are celebrating at the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers is through this discovery list of books and movies for all ages to enjoy about eco-friendly activities, climate justice, Indigenous land stewardship, sustainable living, enjoying the beauty…
Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America by Maria Hinojosa. Emmy Award-winning NPR journalist Maria Hinojosa shares her personal story interwoven with American immigration policy’s coming-of-age journey at a time when our country’s branding went from “The Land of the Free” to “the land of invasion.” Nubia. Real…
“A meditation on the nature of life and time, Água Viva (1973) shows Lispector discovering a new means of writing about herself, more deeply transforming her individual experience into a universal poetry. In a body of work as emotionally powerful, formally innovative, and philosophically profound as Clarice Lispector’s, Água Viva stands out as a particular…
The Massachusetts Book Awards recognize significant works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s/young adult literature published by current Commonwealth residents. As a judge for the 21st Annual Awards, I’ve been tasked with reading all fourteen fiction nominees. Read more reviews here and here. An interwoven set of linked chapters, Inheritors is also a generational saga…
The Massachusetts Book Awards recognize significant works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s/young adult literature published by current Commonwealth residents. As a judge for the 21st Annual Awards, I’ve been tasked with reading all fourteen fiction nominees. Read more reviews here. Set in a (post-apocalyptic?) future, The Bear follows an unnamed father and daughter through…
The Massachusetts Book Awards recognize significant works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s/young adult literature published by current Commonwealth residents. As a judge for the 21st Annual Awards, I’ve been tasked with reading all fourteen fiction nominees. Looking for an eccentric short story collection? Try Julian K. Jarboe’s Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel.…
Abe : Abraham Lincoln in His Times – David Reynolds “From one of the great historians of nineteenth-century America, a revelatory and enthralling new biography of Lincoln, many years in the making, that brings him to life within his turbulent age. David S. Reynolds, author of the Bancroft Prize-winning cultural biography of Walt Whitman and…
A very engaging and well-written memoir. The actor’s strong educational background is very evident as he recalls his strict Catholic upbringing and all the factors in his life that brought him such success as a respected actor. About Walking with Ghosts [ebook]: “As a young boy growing up in the outskirts of Dublin, Gabriel Byrne…
“From Nosferatu to Frankenstein’s monster, from Fritz Lang to James Whale, the touchstones of horror can all trace their roots to the bloodshed of the First World War. Bram Stoker Award nominee W. Scott Poole traces the confluence of military history, technology, and art in the wake of World War I to show how overwhelming…
“Charlotte Runcie has always felt pulled to the sea, lured by its soothing, calming qualities but also enlivened and inspired by its salty wildness. When she loses her beloved grandmother, and becomes pregnant with her first child, she feels its pull even more intensely. In Salt On Your Tongue, a mixture of memoir, social history,…
“Figuring explores the complexities of love and the human search for truth and meaning through the interconnected lives of several historical figures across four centuries—beginning with the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who discovered the laws of planetary motion, and ending with the marine biologist and author Rachel Carson, who catalyzed the environmental movement. Stretching between these figures…
Late last year the librarians of NOBLE came together to vote on their favorite books of 2018. Here are the winners by category. You can view the runners-up and the sort-list at NOBLE Book Awards 2018. Adult Fiction Finn, A. J. The woman in the window : a novel It isn’t paranoia if it’s really…
A small sample of the many new history book titles arriving at the library soon Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah’s War Against America. By Fred Burton. On April 18th, 1983, a van rigged with 2,000 pounds of heavy explosives broke through the security perimeter of the American embassy in…
On March 20, 1969, the day after she slipped a color-coded piece of paper into an on-campus mailbox designated for ride sharing requests, University of Michigan student Jane Mixer was murdered. Picked up by the man who had replied to her request for a lift back to her hometown, a man she did not know…
Wuthering Heights was a tough read for this cynophilist, and I’ve often wondered if I would have enjoyed it more had the dogs in the book not suffered a cruel fate. To this day, having read the book years upon years ago, what sticks in memory most tenaciously is wrapped around dogs – and that Heathcliff…
About Man In An Orange Shirt: “From novelist Patrick Gale, this is a tender, powerful film sure to spark conversation about outdated attitudes and equal rights. Two love stories set 60 years apart are linked by a secret that echoes through generations, from a forbidden relationship impossible during WWII, contrasted with a present-day romance that…
“That’s what great poetry is. A superb serenity in the face of chaos. Wise enough to play the fool.” [From “Reading Philosophy at Night”] “The poem is an attempt at self-recovery, self-recognition, self-remembering, the marvel of being again.” [From “Notes on Poetry and Philosophy”] “Good poetry has never swerved from its purpose as an inexhaustible…
A quarterly roundup of the latest updates to our science collection with a spotlight on: Nature The Earth The Ground Beneath Us: From the Oldest Cities to the Last Wilderness, What Dirt Tells Us About Who We Are (March 2017) How many of us have given much thought to the ground beneath our feet?…
Michael Eric Dyson’s Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America came out last month and, let me just tell you, it is making me seriously think about my privilege as an upper-middle-class white lady, living in a liberal part of a liberal state. In an interview for The New York Times Magazine, Dyson states that the book’s ideal audience…
“Soon, a wide readership formed and her posthumous fame grew, nourished by the stories people passed around. After a gregarious girlhood, it was said, Dickinson had gradually become a near-total recluse, known around Amherst as “the myth.” Children boasted of catching a glimpse of her at an upstairs window. Some thought she was a mystic.…
“Poetry is a solitary process. One does not write poetry for the masses. Poetry is a self-involved, lofty pursuit. Songs are for the people. When I’m writing a song, I imagine performing it. I imagine giving it. It’s a different aspect of communication. It’s for the people. We always write a certain amount of poetry…
“Most of us who embark on a long hike do so seeking change, buoyed by the almost-magical hope that we can walk ourselves into a new body or a new state of mind. But when it actually takes place, the experience of transformation can be unnerving.” | Robert Moor, author of On Trails: An Exploration,…
Immerse yourself in the world of letters–real and imagined.
Fall down the rabbit hole with us! In our Reading Intersections series, we’ll give you a place to start and where to go next, piling titles on until you’re neck-deep in books, graphic novels and movies on a similar theme. | Perhaps the title is a bit misleading, perhaps you thought this was going to be about the city, but no…No, this is going to be about the poet Robert Lowell and the many, many letters he wrote during his lifetime.
Fall down the rabbit hole with us! In our Reading Intersections series, we’ll give you a place to start and where to go next, piling titles on until you’re neck-deep in books, and movies on a similar theme. Start Here Testament of Youth 2015 This is the movie adaptation of Vera Brittain’s classic World War…
Staff suggestions of non-fiction and poetry.
Michelle here, former Book Monogamist. See, these days I have any number of fairly wildly different* books in progress at roundabout the same time. Here are early thoughts on the three books I’m Reading Now.
Fiction: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt “A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an accident that takes the life of his mother. Alone and abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by a friend’s family and struggles to make sense of his new life. In the years that follow, he…
Reviewed by Kim This debut novel is not due out until June 17th, but I was fortunate to have won an ARC (advanced readers’ copy) in a Goodreads contest. The Quick is about the Norbury siblings, James and Charlotte and takes place mostly during 1892. When James graduates from Oxford he sets out for London…
Since 1944, the goal of the Notable Books Council has been to make available to the nation’s readers a list of 25 very good, very readable, and at times very important fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books for the adult reader. [Source] Fiction Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Life After Life by Kate Atkinson Claire of…
“The National Book Critics Circle awards are given each March and honor the best literature published in the United States in six categories—autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. These are the only national literary awards chosen by critics themselves.” [Source] FICTION Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah Alice McDermott, Someone Javier Marias, The Infatuations Ruth Ozeki,…
Biography: The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro Current interest: Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo Fiction: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain First fiction: Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead Graphic novel: Everything Together: Collected Stories by Sammy…
Fiction: The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson Biography: The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss History: Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam by Fredrik Logevall General Nonfiction: Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and…
Young Peoples Literature: William Alexander, Goblin Secrets Poetry: David Ferry, Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations Nonfiction: Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity Fiction: Louise Erdrich, The Round House
First up, The Composites: “Images created using law enforcement composite sketch software and descriptions of literary characters…Read more on the project at The Atlantic.” The site is new, having launched earlier this month, and is currently taking suggestions for characters site-goers would like to see sketched out using the aforementioned software. Some of those already…
Learn more about the National Book Awards here. FICTION WINNER: Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones (Bloomsbury USA) FINALISTS: Andrew Krivak, The Sojourn (Bellevue Literary Press) – Interview Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife (Random House) Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic (Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House) – Interview Edith Pearlman, Binocular Vision…
If you are a fan of writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabelle Allende, you may want to pick up a copy of The Invisible Mountain. In her debut novel, Carolina De Robertis tells the story of three generations of a family in Uruguay. Ignazio fled Venice and his family’s gondola shop after his father,…
Winner of the award for fiction, Jaimy Gordon was caught off guard by her win at the National Book Awards ceremony. Click here for more information on the event and awards. Fiction Lord of Misrule – Jaimy Gordon At the rock-bottom end of the sport of kings sits the ruthless and often violent world of…
“In 1951, Elizabeth Bishop boarded a ship bound for Rio de Janeiro for a two-week holiday with friends. Once there, she fell in love- and two weeks became seventeen years. In this mesmerizing debut novel, Michael Sledge creates an intimate portrait of bishop- of the years she spent in Brazil and her love the dazzling…
Here are some fun stories from an article that appeared on the Poet’s & Writers website. George Washington (yep, that George Washington) owes three hundred thousand dollars in late fees to the New York Society Library for two overdue books he borrowed on October 5, 1789. (Guardian) Fashion Designer Marc Jacobs is opening his first…
A very special congratulations to Paul Harding for winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Mr. Harding gave a reading at the library shortly after Tinkers was published. He was a great speaker and was very generous with his time. Non-fiction Poetry History Biography
One thing a disreputable rake does not expect to return home to after a night of carousing with like-minded friends is news of his father’s death in a duel. That, Lord Nevinstoke learns, is like a slap to the face; the debts and resulting destitution left in his father’s wake, on the other hand, are…
For more information on the National Book Awards click here. FICTION Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project (Riverhead) Rachel Kushner, Telex from Cuba (Scribner) Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country (Modern Library) Marilynne Robinson, Home (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Salvatore Scibona, The End (Graywolf Press) Fiction judges: Gail Godwin (chair), Rebecca Goldstein, Elinor Lipman, Reginald McKnight, Jess Walter.…
Since her earliest memories, Ellysetta Baristani has feared magic, even as she has been inexorably drawn to all things Fey, especially the poetry and legends of Rain Tairen Soul. Now claimed as Rain’s truemate and no longer able to deny her own magic, Ellysetta is swept into the very center of a struggle filled with…
We were fortunate enough to have author Andre Dubus at the library last Thursday. In addition to reading from his latest novel, The Garden of Last Days, he talked about the writing process. He mentioned that he loves to read poetry and we thought you might be interested in some of his favorite poets: Billy…
Smith combines a strong line and a knack for historical narrative to deliver a compelling collection of poetry. His poetic journey takes him deep into the South where he looks back at history and tries to answer the question – why? Some of the poems are downright haunting and they have a tendency to dwell…
The winners for the NBCC Awards were announced over the weekend: Criticism: The Rest is Noise, by Alex Ross Poetry: Elegy, by Mary Jo Bang Biography: Stanley, the Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer, by Tim Jeal General Nonfiction: Medical Apartheid, by Harriet Washington Autobiography: Edwidge Danticat, Brother, I’m Dying Fiction: The Brief Wondrous Life…
Reviewing poetry isn’t an easy endeavor; it’s such a subjective creative field, moreso even then fiction, and whether you respond to a particular collection or poem relies entirely on the life you have lived. At the very least I’ve always found that to be true. The beauty found in Kirkey’s collection is of the best…
And the winners are: Fiction: Denis Johnson ~ Tree of Smoke Non-fiction: Tim Weiner ~ Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA Young Adult Fiction: Sherman Alexie ~ The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Poetry: Robert Hass ~ Time and Materials The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters went to Joan…
Excerpts of 80-Year-Old Poet John Ashbery’s poems will appear on mtvU this fall. mtvU which is available only on college campuses will also sponsor a poetry contest for college students. For the full article click here.
On this page you’ll find profiles for staff members that contribute regularly to read this! If you find that you share similar reading interests to anyone listed below, you can search the blog for his or her reviews and recommendations (just type that individual’s username into the search box!) ta – According to inkonvellum, ta…
Here are a few highlights from an article on the Poets & Writers website featuring some interesting literary news: George Washington (yep, that George Washington) owes three hundred thousand dollars in late fees to the New York Society Library for two overdue books he borrowed on October 5, 1789. (Guardian) Fashion Designer Marc Jacobs is…