Poetry

A. Poulin, Jr. Selected Poems

A. Poulin, Jr. Selected Poems includes sample offerings from Poulin's eight previous books, as well as a number of uncollected and limited-edition poems. Known for imaginative conceits and deft intelligence, Poulin's poems balance philosophical inquiry with emotional intensity and call us to a spiritual awakening beyond that of traditional religions. Edited and introduced by Michael Waters, the release of Selected Poems coincides with the 25th anniversary of BOA Editions, founded by Poulin in 1976. Edited by Michael Waters.

The Angels of Film

Eyes. Eyes. They are the eyes
that feed on children in the sun,
on brides, birds, grandmothers, stars.
They're always there, loaded revolvers
blinking too loudly at parties, shooting
at smiling faces with more vengeance
than crime or conscience. They capture
our gestures, helpless in their sight,
just to prove the past or present real.
We were children, once; beneath this
face there is another we have never
wanted. Out bodies just keep going,
developing reproductions of ourselves.
Our souls are prisoners of eyes forever.

Praise for the collection

“It is a fascinating experience to read this book of poems of the life of A. Poulin, Jr. because it is written with honesty, passion, and clarity. You enter the man's life as you read the book. I was deeply moved and felt the presence of the author on every page. This is autobiographical poetry at its best.” —Alan Dugan

“These poems, artifacts from Al Poulin's life work, sing with celebration and mourning over our daily realities, which he perceived as shimmering between the physical and the metaphysical. We miss the poet. But these poems never miss.” —Robin Morgan

FormatPaperback, Hardcover

Publication DateJanuary 1, 2001

ISBN192991802

From $12.00

About the Author

Poet, translator, and editor A. Poulin, Jr. (1938–1996) was the founding publisher and president of BOA Editions, Ltd. His distinguished poetry translations include Rainier Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies and the Sonnets to Orpheus and The Complete French Poems as well as Anne Hébert's Selected Poems and Day Has No Equal But Night. Poulin's own collections include In Advent, The Widow's Taboo: Poems After the Catawba, A Nest of Sonnets, A Momentary Order, and Cave Dwellers. He also co-edited several editions of the celebrated anthology Contemporary American Poetry (Houghton Mifflin).

For his poetry and translations, Poulin received both a creative writing fellowship and a translator's grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He also received a poetry fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts and two translation awards from Columbia University's Translation Center. In 1971, Poulin joined the faculty at the The College at Brockport, State University of New York, where he was Professor of English. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of New England.

In 1976, Poulin founded BOA Editions as an independent, not-for-profit press devoted to publishing work by contemporary international and American authors. A mentor to numerous poets and scholars, Poulin died in 1996.