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

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Back from Bedlam: Brian Turner

In his article, “To Bedlam and Back,” that appears in the New York Times this week, poet Brian Turner writes about the difficulties facing soldiers when they make the transition from war to home. Even as a veteran, an infantry sergeant who served both in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Iraq, Turner questions his own perspective on this issue: “I guess what I’m wondering most is, as a country that is currently at war, how do our veterans rejoin the life waiting for them back home? How do they rejoin the tribe once they’ve been to Bedlam? How do we help them so that they don’t feel as if they’re encased in glass, pinned to the walls as specimens in some museum-house of culture? It’s a difficult question to answer. I have trouble answering it myself.”

One of the ways Brian Turner has responded to his history, as a soldier at the battlefront who returns home, has been to explore in his poems various experiences encountered in a war zone and to examine the enduring emotions evoked by them. Turner’s first book, Here, Bullet (Alice James Books, 2005), was the winner of the Beatrice Hawley Book Award, the Poets’ Prize, the Northern California Book Award in Poetry, and other honors. In my review of Here, Bullet posted in January of 2007 to “One Poet’s Notes,” I remarked: “Admirably, Turner tries to offer different versions and to identify differing visions of the events related throughout the book by learning various aspects of local language, customs, and religious beliefs. The speaker in these poems desires a way to understand and empathize with those whose country is caught in the crossfire of conflict.”

I am pleased to report Brian Turner is among the poets contributing work for the new issue (Fall/Winter 2009-2010) of Valparaiso Poetry Review, celebrating its tenth anniversary, with two of his poems: “Molotov Cocktails” and “The Battle of Fucine Lake, AD 52.” Readers are also urged to visit another article at “One Poet’s Notes,” “Veteran’s Day: Brain Turner’s ‘Here, Bullet,’” to view a video of Turner performing his poetry.

6 comments:

Joelle Biele said...

Thanks for the link--looking forward to the new poems!

denparser said...

wow. i love high-powered weapon career soldiers.

denise said...

aw. i am afradi of this word "war". very annoying in my ears.

dves said...

you can't deny it. that's the reality.

Anti-Laureate said...

You might also be interested in new poems by Brian, forthcoming in his next book, published in Southword here:
http://munsterlit.ie/Southword/Issues/16/poetry/turner_brian.html

terex Digger Derricks said...

I have to say, that War is one of the few words I hate