Volume 12:2, Spring 2011
FIRST BOOKS ISSUE
This is the second special issue of Beltway Poetry
Quarterly to focus on notable first full-length, single-author
books. The first one, published in Spring
2009, was such a success that I determined to do it again. All seven
of the featured authors presented here have strong ties to Washington,
DC and—while their backgrounds and writing styles are widely diverse—all
have developed distinctive voices that make their books fascinating
and highly recommended.
I thank Alice James Books, Black Lawrence Press, Cider
Press Review, David Robert Books, GirlChild Press, Washington Writers'
Publishing House, and WordTech Editions for their permission to reprint
selections from their books. If you enjoy what you read, please support
these authors and buy their books! A link to each press is provided
at the bottom of each web page.
While I could only highlight seven authors in this issue,
I can also highly recommend these other recent full-length first books
by authors with ties to DC as well. Please also look for these titles:
Derrick
Weston Brown, Wisdom Teeth (Busboys
& Poets/PM Press, 2011)
Jamie Brown, Conventional Heresies
(Bay Oak,
2009)
Mark Fitzgerald, By
Way of Dust and Rain (Cinnamon
Press, 2010)
Christopher Goodrich, Nevertheless, Hello
(Steel Toe Books, 2009)
Margaret B. Ingraham, This Holy Alphabet: Lyric
Poems Adapted from Psalm 119 (Paraclete
Press, 2009)
Charles Jensen, The
First Risk (Lethe Press,
2009.
John
Murillo, Up Jump the Boogie (Cypher
Books, 2010)
—Kim Roberts, Editor
>>>
Table of Contents
Reginald
Dwayne Betts
Supreme Mathematics
The Day Carlos Jumped from the Top Tier
A Cell Houses a One-Sided War
Red Onion State Prison
Saturdays Waited
Marcela
Sulak
The History of the Date
The History of Brussels Sprouts
The History of the Radish
The History of the Watermelon
Holly
Karapetkova
Love and the National Defense
How the Earth Lost Its Moon
Atlas
Cadaver Room
Sonya
Renee Taylor
Fragility of Eggs
Pronunciations (In Three Syllables)
Kathleen
O'Toole
Reading Obituaries
County Antrim Archeology
At Kelly Ingram Park
Proving Ground
Meanwhile
Landon
Godfrey
On Black Cloth with White Chalk I
Drew the Stars
Self-Portrait
Chanel N° 5
Hard Thaw
Kimberly
L. Becker
The Catch
Language Class
River of Words
Word as Fish