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"Forty years old and flourishing—a remarkable record for a small nonprofit press—Alice James Books deserves praise and admiration."—Maxine Kumin
A compilation of archival materials accompanies this collection of forty years of Alice James Books poetry. Nearly 150 authors are represented in chronological order. Maxine Kumin states, "the list of authors is remarkable for its breadth, variety, and passion. The assortment is idiosyncratic, the range of voices and styles embraces the familiar personal narrative voice and the innovative." Contributors include Jane Kenyon, Fanny Howe, Forrest Gander, Jean Valentine, B.H. Fairchild, Matthea Harvey, Brian Turner, and Cole Swensen.
Anne Marie Macari's most recent book She Heads into the Wilderness was published in 2008 by Autumn House Press. She is also the author of Gloryland (Alice James Books, 2005), and Ivory Cradle, which won the APR/Honickman First Book Prize in 2000. Macari founded and teaches in the low-residency MFA program in poetry and poetry in translation at Drew University.
Carey Salerno is the executive director of Alice James Books. She earned an MFA in poetry from New England College and teaches in the BFA program at the University of Maine at Farmington. Her first poetry collection, Shelter, won a 2007 Kinereth Gensler Award and was published in 2009.
Former US Poet Laureate Maxine Kumin, winner of the Pulitzer and Ruth Lilly prizes, is the author of Where I Live: New & Selected Poems 1990–2010 (W. W. Norton & Company), her seventeenth volume, which won the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry.
“Alice James Books has been one of the major forces in American poetry for the past four decades…. This is an essential book for readers who want to understand and enjoy contemporary American poetry.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
". . . a wild stretching voice through time and knowledge. . . . Lit from Inside is an enticing pick for any literary poetry collection. . ." —The Midwest Book Review
“The history of American poetry is the history of the small press, and Alice James Books, true to its origins in the Seventies as a collective operation, is a large and very distinctive chapter in that history, well deserving of this anthology showcasing its poets and work, both experimental and traditional, that ranks among the most important of the past four decades. The next time a student poet asks me for an anthology that will teach her the art in its most exemplary and current state, this is the one I will hand her.” —B.H. Fairchild
“The founding members of Alice James Books welcomed me, in 1975, to a crew of feisty individuals committed to poetry. Unfettered by demands of market or profit, the press published—for forty years— tantalizing collections. Culture; family; feminism; friendship; history; passion; racism; war: it’s all in this anthology, a rewarding testimony to the independent spirit.” —Robin Becker
Anne Marie Macari's most recent book, She Heads Into the Wilderness, was published in 2008 by Autumn House Press. She is also the author of Gloryland (Alice James Books, 2005), and Ivory Cradle, which won the APR/Honickman First Book Prize in 2000. Macari’s work has been widely published in magazines including Poetry International, The American Poetry Review, Five Points, TriQuarterly, Bloomsbury Review, Shenandoah, The Cortland Review, The Iowa Review, and in anthologies including From the Fishouse (Persea Books, 2009) and Never Before: Poems About First Experiences (Four Way Books). Macari founded and teaches in the low-residency MFA program in poetry and poetry in translation at Drew University.
Carey Salerno is the Executive Director of Alice James Books. She earned an MFA in Poetry from New England College, and teaches for the BFA program at the University of Maine at Farmington. Her first poetry collection, Shelter, won a 2007 Kinereth Gensler Award and was published in 2009. Salerno lives in western Maine with her husband and two dogs, Daisy and Gatsby.
Former US Poet Laureate, Maxine Kumin, winner of the Pulitzer and Ruth Lilly prizes, is the author of Where I Live: New & Selected Poems 1990-2010 (Norton), her 17th volume, which won the 2011 L.A. Times poetry book prize. She has taught at MIT, Brandeis, Princeton, Columbia, Washington University of St. Louis, and served on the Bread Loaf Writers Conference faculty for seven years. She and her husband live on a farm in New Hampshire.
“The Mallard” Cornelia Veenendaal from The Trans-Siberian Railway 1
“Minority Report” Cornelia Veenendaal from Green Shaded Lamps 2
“In Reply to Letters of Condolence” Patricia Cumming from Afterwards 3
“Drawing Lesson” Patricia Cumming from Afterwards 4
“poem reluctantly written at quarter of four in the morning” Karen Lindsey from Falling off the Roof 5
“Snow Moon” Jean Pedrick from Wolf Moon 6
“Great Swelling Things” Jean Pedrick from Pride & Splendor 7
“home from our fathers” Ron Schreiber from Moving to a New Place 8
“After Reading Basho” Betsy Sholl from Changing Faces 9
“Bayhead, New Jersey 1906” Betsy Sholl from Appalachian Winter 10
“Bird Watching” Betsy Sholl from Rough Cradle 11
“Parsley” Marie Harris from Raw Honey 12
“Four Days of Rain” Robin Becker from Personal Effects 13
“Prairie” Robin Becker from Backtalk 14
“In Conversation” Robin Becker from Backtalk 15
“Training the Dog to Come” Robin Becker from Backtalk 16
“The Conversion of the Jews” Robin Becker from Backtalk 17
“Discovery” Jeannine Dobbs from Three Some Poems 19
“Permission, Berkeley” Marjorie Fletcher from 33 20
“Hydrangeas in Early Fall” Elizabeth Knies from Three Some Poems 21
“Childbirth” Marilyn Zuckerman from Personal Effects 22
“Groundhog” Kathleen Aguero from Thirsty Day 23
“The Painter” Beatrice Hawley from Making the House Fall Down 24
“The Travel Artist” Beatrice Hawley from Making the House Fall Down 25
“Nocturne” Beatrice Hawley from Making the House Fall Down 26
“Mountains” Beatrice Hawley from Making the House Fall Down 27
“The Neighbors Celebrate Spring” Joyce Peseroff from Hardness Scale 28
“September 7, 1846, in the desert.” Ruth Whitman from Tamsen Donner: A Woman’s Journey 29
“July 25, 1846, along the Big Sandy.” Ruth Whitman from Tamsen Donner: A Woman’s Journey 30
“Colors” Jane Kenyon from From Room to Room 31
“Six Poems from Anna Akhmatova” Jane Kenyon from From Room to Room 32
“Here” Jane Kenyon from From Room to Room 35
“Finding a Long Gray Hair” Jane Kenyon from From Room to Room 36
“The Suitor” Jane Kenyon from From Room to Room 37
“Disclaimer” Lee Rudolph from The Country Changes 38
“The Fireman’s Ball” Lee Rudolph from The Country Changes 39
“Dialogue” Lee Rudolph from The Country Changes 40
“The Old Cemetery” Jeffrey Schwartz from Contending with the Dark 41
“The Breadwinner” Alice Mattison from Animals 42
“A History” Willa Schneberg from Box Poems 43
“Misery Loves” by Larkin Warren from Old Sheets 44
“Girl” Ruth Lepson from Dreaming in Color 45
“The Weather Here” Robert Louthan from Shrunken Planets 46
“The Birds for Lucie” Ann Darr from Riding with the Fireworks 47
“Field Exercise” Kinereth Gensler from Without Roof 48
“For Nelly Sachs” Kinereth Gensler from Three Some Poems 49
“Destination” Kinereth Gensler from Without Roof 50
“Freshman, 1939” Kinereth Gensler from Journey Fruit 51
“Lowell Reading” John Hildebidle from The Old Chore 52
“Wait” Susan Snively from The Distance 53
“Dust” Susan Snively from The Distance 54
“Come a Daisy” Jacqueline Frank from No One Took a Country from Me 55
“Passing Through Les Eyzies” Jacqueline Frank from No One Took a Country from Me 56
“Argument for Parting” Miriam Goodman from Signal::Noise 57
“The Birdcarver” David McKain from The Common Life 58
“40 Nights on a River Barge” Catherine Anderson from In the Mother Tongue 59
“Lettuce” Erica Funkhouser from Natural Affinities 60
“Translating Tsvetayeva” Celia Gilbert from Bonfire 61
“Through Glass” Celia Gilbert from An Ark of Sorts 62
“The Promise” Suzanne E. Berger from Legacies 63
“Steptoe Butte” Sue Standing from Deception Pass 64
“Kansas, Sunstruck” Joan Joffe Hall from Romance & Capitalism at the Movies 65
from “Mission Hill” Fanny Howe from Robeson Street 66
“The Nursery” Fanny Howe from Robeson Street 67
“The Hunt” Helena Minton from The Canal Bed 69
“Dream” Carole Oles from Night Watches: Inventions on the Life of Maria Mitchell 70
“Migrations” Allison Funk from A Form of Conversion 71
“Crosscut and Chainsaw” Linnea Johnson from The Chicago Home 72
“Black Dog” Margo Lockwood from Black Dog 73
“The Hermit” Tom Absher from The Calling 74
“Fish” Tom Absher from The Calling 75
“Omen” Carole Borges from Disciplining the Devil’s Country 76
“The Doors” Nina Nyhart from French for Soldiers 77
“Ink Blots” Laurel Trivelpiece from Blue Holes 78
“Evening Calm” Forrest Gander from Rush to the Lake 79
“Particles” Nora Mitchell from Your Skin is a Country 80
“My World” Helene Davis from Chemo-Poet and Other Poems 81
“Windfall” Nancy Donegan from Forked Rivers 82
“The Rain” Sabra Loomis from Rosetree 83
“December Coming In” Rosamond Rosenmeier from Lines Out 84
“Mandelstam” Jean Valentine from Home•Deep•Blue 85
“The River at Wolf” Jean Valentine from The River at Wolf 86
“To Plath, to Sexton” Jean Valentine from The River at Wolf 87
“A Hum To Say I’m Missing Your Touch” Carol Potter from Before We Were Born 88
“Night Dive” Jeffrey Greene from To the Left of the Worshiper 89
“The Choice” Nancy Lagomarsino from The Secretary Parables 90
“Remission” Pamela Stewart from Infrequent Mysteries 91
“Painting” Alice Jones from The Knot 92
“His Body Like Christ Passed In And Out Of My Life” Timothy Liu from Vox Angelica 93
“Equinox: The Goldfinch” Cheryl Savageau from Home Country 94
“Comes Down Like Milk” Cheryl Savageau from Home Country 95
“Coming Down Rain From Light” Margaret Lloyd from This Particular Earthly Scene 96
“Father’s Day” Suzanne Matson from Durable Goods 98
“Available Light” David Williams from Traveling Mercies 99
“Bamboo Bridge” Doug Anderson from The Moon Reflected Fire 100
“Short Timer” Doug Anderson from The Moon Reflected Fire 101
“How to Pray” Deborah DeNicola from Where Divinity Begins 102
“Washing Beans” Rita Gabis from The Wild Field 103
“After You Died” Richard McCann from Ghost Letters 104
“One of the Reasons” Richard McCann from Ghost Letters 105
“Resurrection” Forrest Hamer from Call & Response 107
“No Stone” E.J. Miller Laino from Girl Hurt 108
“The Mouth of Grief” Robert Cording from Heavy Grace 109
“The Cup” Robert Cording from Heavy Grace 110
“The Book of God” Theodore Deppe from The Wanderer King 111
“Riding with the Prophet” Theodore Deppe from Children of the Air 112
“Invisible Dark” Cynthia Huntington from We Have Gone to the Beach 113
“The Sign” Sharon Kraus from Generation 114
“We Live in Bodies” Ellen Doré Watson from We Live in Bodies 115
“One of the Ones” Ellen Doré Watson from Ladder Music 116
“Illumination” Adrienne Su from The Middle Kingdom 117
“Body and Soul” B.H. Fairchild from The Art of the Lathe 118
“Keats” B.H. Fairchild from The Art of the Lathe 121
“Airlifting Horses” B.H. Fairchild from The Art of the Lathe 122
“Pregnant at the All-night Supermarket” Laura Kasischke from Fire & Flower 123
“After the Sacrifice” Janet Kaplan from The Groundnote 124
“The Denied” Lisa Sewell from The Way Out 125
“Amber” Amy Dryansky from How I Got Lost So Close to Home 126
“The Book of the Dead, Revised for the Skeptical Reader” Eric Gamalinda from Zero Gravity 127
“The Vulnerable” Amy Newman from Camera Lyrica 129
“Translation” Matthea Harvey
from Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form 130
“In Defense of Our Overgrown Garden” Matthea Harvey from Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form 131
“Planted Document” Suzanne Wise from Kingdom of the Subjunctive 132
“Not a Cloud in the Sky” Cort Day from The Chime 133
“Adjure Injure: Last Call” Liz Waldner from Self and Simulacra 134
“Circumstances” Xue Di from An Ordinary Day 135
“Where Breath Most Breathes” Jocelyn Emerson from Sea Gate 136
“Was Drunk” Alessandra Lynch from Sails the Wind Left Behind 137
“About the Star-Nosed Mole:” Alessandra Lynch from Sails the Wind Left Behind 138
“The Deer Comes Down the Mountain” Sarah Manguso from The Captain Lands in Paradise 139
“Want” Adrian Matejka from The Devil’s Garden 140
“Home Remedies” Adrian Matejka from The Devil’s Garden 142
“Eight Positions Mistaken as Love” Adrian Matejka from The Devil’s Garden 143
[Continued]