Book Review Ellen Wade Beals, Ed., Solace, in So Many Words, Weighed Words, 2011 Reviewed by Kathleen Eull Those of us who have read more than a few anthologies know they can be, in a word often employed by critics, uneven. Collected by well-meaning editors with an unenviable task, we can find ourselves wondering why these pieces were selected as the best or representative. What a pleasure, then, to discover Ellen Wade Beals’s ambitious Solace In So Many Words. … [Read more...]
October news– T. C. Boyle, Carol Kanter, Wally Swist, Susan Mahan and more
T. C. Boyle's fourteenth novel was published in September by Viking. It is called San Miguel and on his blog, the author describes it this way: “It is set on the island of the same name, the most northern and westerly of the California Channel Islands, and the story it tells derives from my research into the ecology and history of the region for my previous novel, When the Killing’s Done. . . . This is my first book-length narrative in the conventional realist mode, sans … [Read more...]
Carol Kanter “Girl with Green Balloon”
Girl with Green Balloon Shades of Vermeer, the beauty of this young maid. Though, alas, her adornment seems to lack gemstone preciousness. Never mind. She treasures it saves it from jostling by festival crowds as she would have it shield her from portraiture. She loves its green--just shy of emerald-- that grants her a glimpse of fabled seas so far off they stretch belief. Sunlight winks from its … [Read more...]
Looking back, looking forward
If you read my last post you know that Solace in So Many Words is one-year-old. I have been thinking of the highlights from the past year. But before I give that account let me tell you how great it was that last week started with congratulatory flowers, sent by neighbor and mentor Fran Podulka and her husband Phil to celebrate the gold medal award Solace in So Many Words won from the Next Generation Indie Awards sponsored by Independent Book Publishing Professionals … [Read more...]
The Book Stall was swell
Many thanks to The Book Stall for hosting our celebration of Poetry Month---to Roberta Rubin for inviting us to read and especially to Amy and Gordon who worked late to accommodate us. The Book Stall has been named Publishers Weekly Bookstore of the Year and it is obvious why. The Book Stall is supportive of readers and writers alike. We had a pretty large crowd and they were a very attentive audience. We changed up our usual reading event in that we also featured … [Read more...]