POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY

POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY
Click Image to Visit the Pecan Grove Press Web Page for Poetry from Paradise Valley

POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY web page

Poetry From Paradise Valley

Pecan Grove Press has released an anthology of poems, a sampling of works published in Valparaiso Poetry Review during its first decade, from the original 1999-2000 volume to the 2009-2010 volume.

Poetry from Paradise Valley includes a stellar roster of 50 poets. Among the contributors are a former Poet Laureate of the United States, a winner of the Griffin International Prize, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, two National Book Critics Circle winners, six finalists for the National Book Award, four finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and a few dozen recipients of other honors, such as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, etc.

Readers are encouraged to visit the Poetry from Paradise Valley page at the publisher's web site, where ordering information about the book can be found.

Best Books of Indiana 2011: Finalist. Judges' Citation: "Poetry from Paradise Valley is an excellent anthology that features world-class poetry, including the work of many artists from the Midwest, such as Jared Carter, Annie Finch, David Baker, and Allison Joseph. It’s an eclectic and always interesting collection where poems on similar themes flow into each other. It showcases the highest caliber of U. S. poetry."
—Indiana Center for the Book, Indiana State Library

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Best of the Web Nominations

Dzanc Books has requested nominations of poems published in online journals during the last twelve months for its initial collection of the Best of the Web, which the publisher plans as an annual anthology “representing in book form the best literary writing online magazines have to offer.” The editors have asked me to nominate three works from the two issues of Valparaiso Poetry Review that have appeared in 2007. As mentioned in a previous post about nominating work from the journal for special distinction, I have a high regard for every poem selected to be in VPR, and I am uncomfortable—as the editor who accepted all the poetry—choosing some pieces to be honored over others.

I value all the poems and depend on all the poets in Valparaiso Poetry Review. Yet, I welcome the admirable efforts of the anthology’s editors to bring attention to the growing number of fine works being published in online journals. Also, I am pleased when an opportunity arises for a few of VPR’s splendid poets to reach a larger audience and find the greater recognition they deserve through possible inclusion in the anthology.

Therefore, once again, I have relied on the numerous comments concerning poems appearing in VPR’s most recent issues that I have received in correspondence from readers throughout the past year. In this way, I obtained a sense of readers’ response to the poetry in VPR’s pair of issues in Volume VIII (Fall/Winter 2006-2007 and Spring/Summer 2007), which are eligible for the upcoming anthology by Dzanc Books. Based upon a compilation of those observations by VPR’s readers, I have been able to offer the editors three poems for consideration from Valparaiso Poetry Review, and I am pleased to announce the following nominations:

Jared Carter: “Prophet Township”

Frannie Lindsay: “Walking an Old Woman into the Sea”

Diane Lockward: “Temptation by Water”


I congratulate the nominated poets. At the same time, as I have in the past, I wish to express my appreciation to all the contributors whose works have appeared in VPR this last year, as well as in past years. I also hope this post encourages readers to continue communicating their feedback on writings in the journal, commentary I always enjoy receiving. In addition, I am grateful for all the ongoing support Valparaiso Poetry Review has received from contributors and readers during its eight years of publication, and I look forward to much more good poetry in the future from other contributors I hope readers will find equally as entertaining, engaging, and enlightening as those they have chosen to compliment in their past correspondence.

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