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