BOA Blog

May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and we're so excited to bring you a selection of new and backlist poetry titles by AAPI authors that exist at the intersection of identity, politics, queerness, and power. Spanning decades, experiences, and historical records, these collections explore vulnerability, and adolescence, love and systemic oppression. It's been our honor to publish them, and to share them with you now.  Buffalo Girl by Jessica Q. Stark In these hybrid poems, Jessica Q. Stark explores her mother’s fraught immigration to the United States from Vietnam at the end of war through the lens of...

 We asked our Spring 2023 authors to share about a food or drink to enjoy while reading their book, or one that appears often in their new collection from BOA. Jeannine Hall Gailey is the author of the poetry collection Flare, Corona, and below, she shares a little back story and a cocktail that pairs well with her poems. Cheers, and happy reading! from Jeannine Hall Gailey: This layered libation is a variation on a pomegranate martini, a cocktail that has the orange, pink, and red colors identified with solar flares and eclipses, and the ginger syrup and pop rocks give the drink a...

We asked our Spring 2023 authors to share about a food or drink to enjoy while reading their book, or one that appears often in their new collection from BOA. Mahtem Shiferraw is the author of the poetry collection Nomenclatures of Invisibility, and below, she shares a little back story and a food that pairs well with her poems.  from Mahtem Shiferraw:   When I think of Nomenclatures, the food that comes to mind is "kategna" or, ቃተኛ in Amharic, which is not ordinarily an everyday food. It's mostly made of fresh enjera; at the end of the process of making a batch of enjera, the last one is...

  Rochester, N.Y. — We are thrilled to announce that acclaimed poet Matthew Shenoda will judge the 23rd annual A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, which will open for submissions on August 1! Matthew Shenoda is a writer, professor, and author and editor of several books. His poems and essays have appeared in a variety of newspapers, journals, radio programs and anthologies. His debut collection of poems, Somewhere Else (Coffee House Press), was named one of 2005's debut books of the year by Poets & Writers Magazine and was winner of a 2006 American Book Award. He is also the author of Seasons of Lotus,...

Rochester, NY—BOA Editions, Ltd. is pleased to announce that Matthew Gellman of Brooklyn, NY is the winner of the 22nd annual A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize. His winning manuscript, Beforelight, was selected by celebrated poet and writer Tina Chang from a pool of 800 original submissions. Beforelight will be published by BOA Editions in April 2024 as part of the New Poets of America Series with a foreword by Tina Chang. Gellman will also receive a $1,000 honorarium.  "I am in awe of the talent and vision of this year's poetry submissions. I am honored to select Matt Gellman's Beforelight as the winner of...