BOA Editions is proud to present these reviews of forthcoming releases and recent backlist titles from the month of February. Read the reviews linked below for a sneak peek into some of our upcoming and recently published books!
“Welcome to Sonnetville, New Jersey,” Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Welcome to Sonnetville, New Jersey, by Craig Morgan Teicher (2021)"At his best, Teicher borrows an ember from Frank O’Hara’s “I do this I do that” poetry to light his family hearth, wielding the urbane form in the service of suburban existentialism in these affecting lines."
“Alien Stories,” Publishers Weekly
Alien Stories by E.C. Osondu (2021)“Osondu is at his best when shifting tone and perspective between stories, in one instance imitating the white gaze (“Guess what: these aliens from the African continent had turned out to be not too bad, actually”) and, in the next, voicing the object of it (on American cops: “What they don’t know makes them angry”). Osondu’s impressive range makes this worth a look.”
“BOOK REVIEW: Alien Stories” by E.C. Osondu by Bernie Gourley, the !n(tro)verted yogi
Alien Stories by E.C. Osondu (2021)A "fantastic collection of stories" that will "plant seeds of thought and help them germinate.”
“The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird Boy of Fort Wayne,” by Carl Logan, Midwest Book Review
The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird Boy of Fort Wayne, Edited by Michael Martone by Michael Martone (2020)“...erudite, eloquent, polished, and inherently fascinating, totally engaging read from first page to last.”
“THE COMPLETE WRITINGS OF ART SMITH THE BIRD BOY OF FORT WAYNE,” by Margaret McMullan, Indiana Authors Awards
The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird Boy of Fort Wayne, Edited by Michael Martone by Michael Martone (2020) "Art Smith met his match. You’ll want it all to be true."
“His Chorus Gathers Itself: Review of Matt Morton’s Improvisation without Accompaniment" by Sam Ross, Southern Indiana Review
Improvisation without Accompaniment by Matt Morton (2020)“Indeed, [IMPROVISATION WITHOUT ACCOMPANIMENT] delivers both the unfussy ease promised by its title and the most profound consequences of real life: grief and beauty.”
“New Life Studies: Bennett, Morton, Paredez,” by Christopher Kempf
Improvisation Without Accompaniment by Matt Morton (2020)Year of the Dog by Deborah Paredez (2020)
“[Matt Morton’s Improvisation Without Accompaniment (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2020) gazes inward as it examines how individual identity is constructed in the absence of external frameworks. Deborah Paredez, in turn, approaches life study in Year of the Dog (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2020) as a kind of photographic negative, limning the historical conditions into which—in 1970, the Year of the Metal Dog—a “Latina daughter of the Vietnam War” is born.”
“Places To Lie Down and Signify": Diane Marie Delgado’s Accumulative Verse by Katie Berta, West Branch
Tracing the Horse, by Diana Marie Delgado (2019)“‘Most nights I’m face to face with the stars. / No one is more afraid of this than me. // So I find places to lie down/and signify,’ Diana Delgado begins in “Little Swan,” the first poem of her debut poetry collection Tracing the Horse. “Little Swan” sets the tone for the collection, which has a dreamy, interior quality that is by turns punctured and influenced by the chaotic elements of the speaker’s life...”
BOA Editions appreciates these reviews of titles we’ve worked hard to present to our readers! Our sincere thanks to the following reviewers, outlets, and journals: Bernie Gourley, Publishers Weekly, Carl Logan, Midwest Book Review, Margaret McMullen, Indiana Authors Awards, Sam Ross, Southern Indiana Review, Katie Berta, West Branch, Christopher Kempf, and Poetry Northwest.
Check out these and other titles at the BOA Bookstore!
Compiled by Jessica R. Semon, spring '21 intern at BOA and an English major at SUNY Brockport.
