The San Francisco Bay area has long been an active nexus of poets & poetry. Little wonder, then, that there are so many must-read gems in the books by Northern California authors nominated by the Bay Area book reviewers for their annual awards. Here are links to purchase the six nominees in poetry.
1. Here, Bullet by Brian Turner
(Alice James Books, November 2005) Brian Turner spent a year in Iraq with the U.S. infantry & brought back this collection of poems, spare, precisely detailed & vivid descriptions of the experience of war.
2. The Niagara River, by Kay Ryan
(Grove Press Poetry Series, October 2005) This is Kay Ryan’s third collection -- more of the wonderfully inscrutable, yet magically powerful short-lined lyrics for which she is known & admired.3. Company of Moths, by Michael Palmer
(New Directions, May 2005) Michael Palmer has been regarded as a genius of experimental poetry, one of America’s most important poets, a writer of “serious pleasures & delvings.” This is his 10th volume.4. Corruption, by Camille Norton
(Harper Perennial, December 2005) This is Camille Norton’s first book, selected as a winner of the National Poetry Series Open Competition by Campbell McGrath, who describes her work as “rapturously lyrical and whip smart.”5. Poems in Spanish, by Paul Hoover
(Omnidawn Publishing, November 2005) Paul Hoover edited the well-known anthology Postmodern American Poetry (W.W. Norton) and, with his wife Maxine Chernoff, edits the literary journal New American Writing. His new book is written in English, but comes at the language from outside, as if it were Spanish.6. The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart, by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
(Persea Books, April 2005) This is the first published collection by winner of the Rona Jaffe Award for Emerging Women Writers & Wallace Stegner Fellow Gabrielle Calvocoressi. Her poems locate themselves in the life of small-town America in the 20th century; her work has been described as “American in the purest, most evocative sense,” a “tour de force.”YOUR Poetry Picks for 2005
Bob Holman gave you his choices of the best poetry books he read in 2005 back in December. Now the Northern California book reviewers have selected their nominees for the best poetry books published in 2005. And we’d still like to hear about your favorites -- tell us please!
