Criticism: Poetry by Contemporaries

My first Goodreads review of a book by a poet I knew was for Priscilla Becker's second collection Stories That Listen. I'd taken a few workshops with Becker -- one at Poets House, two others in her studio apartment in Brooklyn -- and as a result, we'd become colleagues and friends. (I'm not sure where she is now but if you're reading this, "Hello, Priscilla!") To be honest, it felt strange writing about the work of a friend but over the years, I've come to realize that a Goodreads review is a good way to elevate the poets I've met alongside the canonized dead. The list below isn't a complete one. I'll write another post specifically around those poets who were a part of the 2024 Segue Reading Series I co-curated with Regie Cabico as well as another list for my fiction-writing buddies. For now, this will do.

1. Daniel Meltz's It Wasn't Easy to Reach You: "The pursuit of love, even though it occasionally gets messy, is a moving lifelong goal as evidenced in Daniel Meltz's achingly lovely debut poetry collection."

2. Cathy Linh Che's Split: "So what's the meaning of Split? Is it to break apart, to depart, to share? Like any poet worth their salt, Cathy Link Che draws on all the meanings."

3. Regie Cabico's A Rabbit in Search of a Rolex: "Page-turning poetry? Yes, that exactly. And since these particular poems are short, you'll likely be reading the entire collection in a single sitting."

4. Kathi Wolfe's Love and Kumquats: "Wolfe evinces a rich, whimsical melancholy...and has built discreet subsections (like 'The Helen Keller Poems') that could easily stand alone..."

5. Julie Poole's Bright Specimen: "...seeing each flower as a conduit to bigger ideas that can't help but grow from the leaves, the stems, the stamens, and the petals."

6. Marcus Amaker's The Birth of All Things:  "Broken up into four sections, The Birth of All Things recalls a double album, those two-disc epics in which a band/artist can really explore/experiment."

7. Len Lawson's Chime: "Lawson plays with form, language, and ideas with equal aplomb."

8. Rochelle Owens' Salt & Core: "If I could rescue one author from obscurity, Rochelle Owens would be my choice today."

9. Robert M. Giannetti's The Frontier: "...like a friend of a friend, both of whom are poets, and who you hope to bump into again through some kind twist of fate."

10. Priscilla Becker's Stories That Listen: "...existential meditations brought about by life's big dramas which might actually be small if incredibly concentrated."