Titles and Covers

A follow up spotlight on the writers mentioned in Tuesday's post

Poetry shelves at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco

Hello! Happy Thursday to you. I hope you are having a great day so far. 

Throughout my last post I referred to a handful of writers and their texts. As the post was a bit lengthy, with different streams of thought, personal stories, and questions to think about, some of the links and mentions may have gotten a bit lost in the dunes. So to honor them a little more, and to have a more accessible way to locate them all, I wanted today’s post to be a simple compilation of links and book covers. <3

So here below are the writers and the exact books that I referred to at any point in Tuesday’s post, including the ones I read from in the World Poetry Day video.  

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1.

Gregory Corso

The Golden Dot

The book that accompanied me through bedridden sickness in August, reconnecting me with elements of clarity and courage I had lost temporary touch with. Thank you to Raymond Foye for editing and compiling together this collection of Gregory’s poems, and thank you to Lithic Press for publishing and releasing it.

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2.

Emily Dickinson 

Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson

Of course, there are so many great editions and collections of Emily’s poetry. This just happens to be the one I read from in the World Poetry Day video. It’s actually from when my mom and I put together an event of words and music dedicated to Emily for an exhibit at the Morgan Library in 2017. The exhibit, I'm Nobody? Who are you? The Life and Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Delirium: The Art of the Symbolist Book, was really something special, and that event was definitely one of my favorites that my mom and I ever put together.

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3. 

Sylvia Plath

Collected Poems

Again, there are endless printings and volumes of Sylvia’s work, too, and I happened to be reading a poem from this nice collection and printing from Faber & Faber. She really deserves her own focused post and she will have one sometime soon. Do you have a favorite collection, book, or poem by Sylvia?

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4.

Jane Draycott

Pearl

This is a book I was initially drawn to in the store because of the layout and colors of the cover art and its title, Pearl, moved also by its description. After reading a few words, I was pulled into the story and took it home. Something happened in the shuffle, and it got misplaced somehow, only to be found again while I was preparing for the World Poetry Day video. It was perfect timing. Jane’s poems and publications are also listed on her website, along with audio work and recorded readings.

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5.

Matsuo Basho

Frog Haiku

Something serendipitous happened the day I finished writing Tuesday’s post. On the previous Thursday morning, I had prepared the post to go out later. I met my mom in the early afternoon to walk over to McNally Jackson so she could sign stock for them. We both were separately browsing for something new to read - I was in the Nordic literature section and chose a book of short stories from one of my favorites, Tove Jansson. My mom was holding the book she had chosen, Matsuo Basho: The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. If you read that part of my last post, you know that she was the one who suggested that I include the Matsuo Basho frog haiku in the World Poetry Day video. That was March 2021, and we haven’t spoken about the haiku since. So the very day I wrote about them, she chose the book from the thousands on the shelves, which opens with the Frog Haiku. A happy nod from the universe. 

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I realized today that I hadn’t actually included the original World Poetry Day video. I just watched it again, and I’m a little embarrassed about a couple things, mostly the amount of times I used the word, ‘wonderful,’ but for the sake of sharing something I keep referring back to, for the sake of being kind to myself, and because ‘wonderful’ is a nice word that I love, here it is for your viewing entertainment. :) 

And while we’re sharing, here are two other videos I also referred to in the last post:

Lunar New Year 2021: Year of the Metal Ox

Poem in Your Pocket Day 2021

And another one that I didn’t mention or refer to but that fits with the theme:

World Poetry Day 2022

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I also wanted to share these videos just so I could have the opportunity to link and spotlight the books I read from in these videos, too. So here they are below.

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World Poetry Day 2022

In this video I read 2 of my own poems, ‘Lapis Lazuli’ and ‘Water Into Water,’ plus the poem ‘Blue Girl’ from Janet Hamill’s book, ‘A Map of the Heavens.’

Janet Hamill 

A Map of the Heavens

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Poem in Your Pocket Day 2021

In this video I read 2 of my own poems, plus 2 from my mom’s poetry book, ‘Auguries of Innocence.’ This is one of my favorite of my mom’s books, along with Wool Gathering. If you’re not yet familiar with ‘Poem in Your Pocket Day,’ you can learn more about it here. It happens each day in April, so we have time to prepare for the next one. :)

Augueries of Innocence Paperback

Hardcover

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Lunar New Year 2021: Year of the Metal Ox

In this video I read two of my own poems, ‘Ox Goes to the Water,’ and ‘Wondrous Water Ox’ in honor of the Wood Ox year.

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So here are the writers and books from the previous post. Again, there are many different compilations, collections, editions, and original publications from each writer and poet. Please in the comments feel free to mention a favorite volume of yours, a recommendation of another text by any of the writers, or a suggestion to read another poet whose work you admire and resonate with, including your own! Looking forward to anything you would like to share.

And of course, the links I included are just example references of where to find the titles, but as we know, it’s always best to strive (as often as we can) to support our local bookstores and booksellers. If you’re in NYC, McNally Jackson is always a great choice, and they do ship, too. Please feel free in the comments to mention your favorite local bookstore, library, or online resource.

Thank you so very much :))

Have a great day!