The Music In It: Adele Kenny's Poetry Blog: Summer Reading

Monday, June 20, 2016

Summer Reading

Today we celebrate the summer solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere—

the longest day of the year and the shortest night—
a good time to discover or revisit Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(which you can read online by clicking on the title above).

I thought today would also be a good time to share some of my favorite recently-published poetry books by way of recommendation for your summer reading.

Before I list the books, and I know I promised myself that this wouldn't be an "about me" poetry blog, I'm breaking my own rule because I'm so happy and honored to share that my book A Lightness, A Thirst, or Nothing At All is a 2016 Paterson Poetry Prize finalist (for books published in 2015).

Mark Doty's book Deep Lane is the winner and here are the finalists:

Reginald Dwayne Betts, Bastards of the Reagan Era (Four Way Books, New York, NY)
Tony Hoagland, Application for Release from the Dream (Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, MN

Patricia Spears Jones, A Lucent Fire: New & Selected Poems (White Pine Press, Buffalo, NY)

Adele Kenny, A Lightness, A Thirst, or Nothing at All (Welcome Rain Publishers, New York, NY)

Richard Michelson, More Money Than God (University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA)

Vivian Shipley, Perennial (Negative Capability Press, Mobile, AL)

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Following are my top ten 2016 poetry books
recommended for your summer reading
(in alphabetical order by title).

Atlas Apothecary by Tom Plante (Finishing Line Press)

Bright Stranger by Katherine Soniat (Louisiana State University Press)

Coat Thief by Jeffrey Davis (Saint Julian Press)

Collected Poems: 1974–2004 by Rita Dove (Norton).

Confessions of a Captured Angel by Neil Carpathios (Terrapin Books)

The Big Book of Exit Strategies by Jamaal May (Alice James)

The Uneaten Carrots of Atonement by Diane Lockward (Wind Publications)

The View from the Body by Renée Ashley (Black Lawrence Press)

Then Come Back: The Lost Neruda by Pablo Neruda (Copper Canyon)

To the Left of Time by Thomas Lux (Mariner: Houghton)

If you have other poetry books that you recommend,
I'd love to know about them, so please post their titles and authors as comments!

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BTW ...

If you're looking for journals that accept submissions during the summer,

be sure to visit Diane Lockward's blog, Blogalicious.

Summer Journals A-F

Summer Journals G-P

Summer Journals Q-Z

___________________________________________________

Enjoy the season and all the poetry that comes your way!

I wish each of you, dear blog readers,

a happy, restful, and healthy summer!

Summer reruns will begin on Saturday, July 2nd,

so please stay tuned!

10 comments:

Michael T. YoungJune 20, 2016 at 2:30 PM
Adele, congratulations on being a finalist for the 2016 Paterson Prize. A Lightness, a Thirst, or Nothing At All would be on my list of recommended books. I was thinking about one of its poems just yesterday.
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Jamie MorrisJune 22, 2016 at 9:07 AM
Wonderful suggestions. I've read THE UNEATEN CARROTS OF ATONEMENT already and loved it.
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Rich MandelJune 24, 2016 at 10:19 AM
BIG congrats, Adele! And thanks for the recommended books.
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Sandy R.June 25, 2016 at 6:51 AM
Is that picture one of your garden? So beautiful! Congrats to you, Adele, on the book award; and thank you to Diane Lockward for the comprehensive lists of summer submission possibilities.
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Replies
Amita Jayaraman (Mumbai)June 25, 2016 at 1:07 PM
Lovely news, congratulations, Adele! Thank you for the books suggestions (not always easy to find here in Mumbai), and Thank You to Diane Lockward for the three lists of journals
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THE MUSIC IN IT

"The Music In It" is a blog for anyone interested in poets and poetry—the craft and the community.

The title comes from Countee Cullen, who wrote: "My poetry, I should think, has become the way of my giving out whatever music is in me."

Look for a new prompt or guest blogger every couple of weeks or so, usually posted on weekends, and check the archives for older prompts and posts. Be sure to click on the poetry-related links in the sidebar.

Thanks for your visits and comments.

Enjoy!

ABOUT WIND OVER STONES

From Renée Ashley

Compressed and brilliant in their philosophical and imagistic scintillations, the prose poems in Adele Kenny’s Wind Over Stones are of one piece in both voice and intensity of gaze. Through each artwork she has chosen as her lens, she seems to be saying, If we look hard enough and long enough, and with just the right slant of light, we can see through these paintings into ourselves. Her vision embodies, without presumption, the knowledge that, as John Muir told us, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” Kenny tells us, “This kind of purity comes to us without intention—in ordinary things that are anything but ordinary….” She paints it for us herself: “A flurry of bats becomes the Milky Way, and we make no pretense of understanding the infinite (deep inside us), our need to become nothing before we unname ourselves and disappear.” Everything is connected, and through the language of fairytale, examination, and prayer—the same language, after all—each of Kenny’s poems is a gem in a garland of gems.

Publisher's Comments

This unique collection of ekphrastic prose poems continues Adele Kenny’s reflections on the spiritual condition of being. Despite loss and change, she looks into the dark without flinching and finds light among the shadows.

Using ekphrasis as a rhetorical device and combined with Kenny’s signature elements of technical proficiency, hauntingly lucid imagery, and compelling immediacy, these poems filter and record experience in startling ways as they journey across aging’s inevitable arc. Hardwired by Kenny’s understanding of the human spirit, these poems offer us insights into the healing power of attention and awareness.

QR codes are included in this book so that readers can access the paintings that inspired the poems while they are reading. This interactive element enables readers to enjoy a multi-dimensional experience through their smart phones with cameras or free QR code scanning applications on their mobile devices.

ABOUT NOT ASKING WHAT IF

"Kenny has written some of the most hauntingly beautiful spiritual haiku I’ve ever read—haiku that take us as close to divinity as human language can get. Her haiku are spare and commanding, rich in imagery, and layered with meaning." (Alex Pinto, Tiferet)

“Traditional haiku, environmental haiku, psychological haiku, spiritual haiku—Adele Kenny has done them all. Her haiku are spare and powerful, always nuanced with rich symbolism. Her images and juxtapositions make readers hold their breath in wonder.” (Malachy McCourt, Author of A Monk Swimming)

Review by Emily Vogel in Ragazine:
http://ragazine.cc/2016/09/more-books-more-reviews/

ABOUT WHAT MATTERS

"These poems are eloquent, candid, straightforward and genuine." (Robert Pinsky, U.S. Poet Laureate, 1997-2000)

"In Adele Kenny's finely wrought meditations on grief and loss, she never forgets that she's a maker of poems. What Matters straddles two of the exigencies of the human condition: diminishment and endurance. It abounds with poems that skillfully earn their sentiments." (Stephen Dunn, Pulitzer Prize in Poetry)

"These are poems that come to (poetic) grips with the issues of grief, fear, and death ... focused in a new and strong way." (Gerald Stern, National Book Award in Poetry)

Click Here to Read the Tiferet Review of What Matters

Click Here to Read Michael T. Young's Interview

Click Here to Read Michael T. Young's Review

Click Here to "Attend" the Virtual Salon for What Matters