In this current issue of Ibbetson Street we are glad to have the work of Brendan Galvin, Richard Hoffman, Rhina Espalliat, Marge Piercy, Diana Der-Hovanessian, Jean Valentine and others. On the front... More > cover you will notice the Ibbetson Street/Somerville Ave. sign. This is an artful rendition of the sign that marked the first front cover of Ibbetson Street in 1999 as well as marking the first location for the press. The back cover, a painting by Ibbetson Street Press Art/Editor Richard Wilhelm, is a signature scene from the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, where our press continues to thrive.< Less
Fans of European 19th century verse, thick with symbolism and multi-syllabic, will find little to love in Dan Sklar’s work. Sklar’s poetry could be characterized as American Primitive,... More > clean and bracing as creek water. Like Whitman, Sklar celebrates the mystery and profundity of the everyday. This is “guy” poetry, muscularly chronicling the days and to-do list of the contemporary American male, helplessly and joyfully committed to the challenges of raising a houseful of boys, teaching sleepy-eyed college students, and handling the ignominies of manuscript rejection letters. Sklar’s poems tumble and sing with enormously universal appeal.
--Lisa Beatman, Author of Manufacturing America< Less
Emily Pineau’s poetry is honest, exhibiting a wisdom
beyond her age as a sophomore at Endicott College. She
promises a future in poetry that will enthrall readers. Her
relationship with an... More > unnamed male in I would for you is
one which many women have encountered but have not
had the courage to enunciate.
— Zvi A. Sesling, Muddy River Poetry
Review, author King of the Jungle< Less
You have before you the intimate story of a man’s journey from self-doubt and isolation to self-mastery and a deeper connection to life itself – an evolution of a single individual. That... More > this transformation should occur against the backdrop of a crime ridden and prejudicial city in the 20/21st Century in the persona of a black man makes it all the more accessible and fascinating.< Less
Philip Burnham’s poems have a slow-building intensity to
them, a quiet meditative force that gathers from the first
few lines and takes the reader into the heart of his experiences of nature,... More > love, history, and place. Shore Lines is a rich trove of the well-observed and the deeply felt.
Adam Haslett, Author of You are Not a Stranger Here
National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize Finalist< Less
In this issue we are glad to be featuring the work of Diana Der-Hovanessian, longtime president of the New England Poetry Club. Not only has Diana directed the Poetry Club for decades, arranging... More > countless readings of world-renowned as well as local poets, she has also won numerous awards for her poetry and poetry collections. Diana has written extensively about the Armenian Holocaust and has been a strong voice in making sure this Holocaust will not fall into the dustbin of history. We are also pleased to feature the work of such writers as Afaa Michael Weaver, X.J. Kennedy, Marge Piercy, and many other fine poets.
You may also notice the striking photograph on the front cover by Jennifer Matthews, a mysterious, winding, nocturnal street in Perugia, Italy, and a haunting portrait on the back cover by Ibbetson Street Press' art editor Richard Wilhelm.< Less
Dorothy E. Morris, poet and freelance writer, publishes poetry regularly in the South Boston Literary Gazette and in 2009 won its first prize for a short memoir piece. She has published two... More > chapbooks, and she co-hosts a poetry reading series at the South Boston Library.
Dorothy is currently marketing a children’s picture book and is working on a memoir. Additionally, she is an officer of the South Boston Arts Association and a member of the Special Libraries Association.
In a prior life she was an assistant vice president at Standish, Ayer & Wood, as Director of Corporate Information. For 13 years she wrote travel articles for the Patriot Ledger. She resides in Quincy, Massachusetts.< Less
Again and again, in poems of precision, conscience, and formal elegance, Dennis Daly arrests our vertiginous world so we may see its beauty, horror, and promise. Daly is a masterful poet, whether he... More > is writing in free or formal verse, and the poems in this substantial gathering of his work accrue to a mature vision of our world as it is and as it could be. The Custom House is a book to savor, a book to treasure.
— Richard Hoffman, author of Gold Star Road and Emblem< Less
I am glad to report that in Issue 31 our featured poet is Marge Piercy. We have included a number of new poems by her, along with an illuminating interview of Piercy by Endicott College Creative... More > Writing major Emily Pineau. And, as usual, we have a fine roster of poets from all parts of the country to whet your poetic appetites.
Our managing editor for this issue is Lawrence Kessenich. Kessenich has a distinguished background in publishing, having worked as an editor at Houghton Mifflin for over nine years, from 1979-1988. He is also an accomplished poet and playwright.
Harris Gardner, founder of the literary organization Tapestry of Voices, is our poetry editor this issue and, we hope, for many more to come. Harris also founded the Boston National Poetry Festival at the Boston Public Library, which has run every April for the past twelve years. Gardner is well-connected in the literary community, and he has put his connections and discerning literary taste to good use for Ibbetson Street.< Less
The Ibbetson Street Press was founded in 1998 in Somerville, Mass. by Doug Holder, Richard Wilhelm, and Dianne Robitaille. Ibbetson Street Press was named after a street in Somerville, Mass. where the press was first located. The press has produced 31 issues of the literary journal IBBETSON STREET, and well-over 60 chapbooks and perfect bound poetry collections.
Author Spotlight
