Reviews
A Face to Meet the Faces: An Anthology of Contemporary Persona Pieces
A Face to Meet the Faces: An Anthology of Contemporary Persona Poetry edited by Stacey Lynn Brown and Oliver de la Paz (Akron, 2012) by Nick Ripatrazone Dislocated Identities, Found Personas Edward Hirsch notes that persona poetry originates “in archaic … Continue reading
The Chameleon Couch (FSG, 2011) by Yusef Komunyakaa
Reviewed by Philip Belcher Komunyakaa Review Erudition as Disguise On occasion, an eager and adept reader happens upon a poetry collection that satisfies immediately. The lyric intensity of individual poems may carry the volume, or the narrative arc may be … Continue reading
Secure the Shadow by Claudia Emerson LSU Press (2012)
Reviewed by Lisa Russ Spaar Claudia Emerson’s poems have always stalked liminal territories—abandoned houses, vestigial buildings reclaimed by wildness, bodies caught in birth and death throes, the crucibles of girlhood, middle and old-age, the half-lives of institutions, situations, places, and … Continue reading