In Suburban Myths, Sam Schmidt writes poetry that plumbs the depths of everyday life in that most artificial of... More > environments, the American suburb. He explores not only the myth that is the suburb—an island in time and space trying to forestall nature and history while also being part of them, and the myths of romantic love and family life by which the suburbs call to something in our hearts—but also the sometimes-whimsical myths that we create to try to make the suburban world come round at those times when it suddenly seems foreign. < Less

This second collection of poems by Gregg Shapiro delve into the memory and meaning of the 1970s.

"Gregg Shapiro proves... More > himself the Cavafy of Chicago.” Richard McCann... It isn’t often that the spirit of the music and the gift of the muse combine, but they certainly do as Gregg Shapiro “opens the box marked 1971” and takes us on a hard-rocking rollercoaster ride through his formative years as both a rock fan and a poet.” Jim DeRogatis ...
“Gregg Shapiro’s poetry of coming of age in the “me decade” becomes the poetry of “us,” as
his keen, compassionate eye recasts and recollects the 1970’s as a time of optimism and possibility." Denise Duhamel < Less

The inaugural title from the Souvenir Spoon Books imprint, Michael Gushue's Conrad presents a series of poems about an... More > everyman in the city. - - -

"Conrad is a thorough delight. This book will charm you with its inept protagonist and marvelous vernacular -- a combination of profane and profound language, freshly squeezed." Barbara DeCesare - - -

"These poems deftly weave the tale of a man who fears that he lacks the inner resources to respond and connect to the world and people around him. A collection that is both funny and heartbreaking as the poems operate as both myth and truth." Reb Livingston
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"Meet Conrad, an everyman who reaches for the sublime, only to come up with boiled celery instead. These poems are sneaky in their simplicity and unforgettable in their poignance." Sandra Beasley < Less

The inaugural title from the Souvenir Spoon Books imprint, Michael Gushue's Conrad presents a series of poems about an... More > everyman in the city. - - - "Conrad is a thorough delight. This book will charm you with its inept protagonist and marvelous vernacular -- a combination of profane and profound language, freshly squeezed." Barbara DeCesare - - - "These poems deftly weave the tale of a man who fears that he lacks the inner resources to respond and connect to the world and people around him. A collection that is both funny and heartbreaking as the poems operate as both myth and truth." Reb Livingston - - - "Meet Conrad, an everyman who reaches for the sublime, only to come up with boiled celery instead. These poems are sneaky in their simplicity and unforgettable in their poignance." Sandra Beasley < Less

The inaugural title from the Souvenir Spoon Books imprint, Michael Gushue's Conrad presents a series of poems about an... More > everyman in the city. - - -

"Conrad is a thorough delight. This book will charm you with its inept protagonist and marvelous vernacular -- a combination of profane and profound language, freshly squeezed." Barbara DeCesare - - -

"These poems deftly weave the tale of a man who fears that he lacks the inner resources to respond and connect to the world and people around him. A collection that is both funny and heartbreaking as the poems operate as both myth and truth." Reb Livingston
- - -
"Meet Conrad, an everyman who reaches for the sublime, only to come up with boiled celery instead. These poems are sneaky in their simplicity and unforgettable in their poignance." Sandra Beasley < Less

Carol Guess' third book of poetry surveys the aftermath of a relationship and the geography of loss. Humor ebbs in amidst... More > this poet's observance of the personal and the nation's upheaval. < Less

For over ten years the celebrated poet and teacher John Gilgun has written a poem a day. The poems have made their way into... More > the in-boxes of poetry lovers around the world. VRZHU PRESS is delighted to publish The Dailies, a sampling from his poetic discipline of encountering the world and capturing it on the page. < Less

Hiram Larew’s More Than Anything is a luminous jewel-box of a book. The tenderness and deeply felt thinking found in here... More > will reverberate long after you’ve finished reading them.Hiram Larew's More Than Anything is a strong gathering of rich and fully caring American poems. He is in the American grain with Emerson and Longfellow arching into and beyond the hiphop age as if that old lapland song Longfellow wrote of is ever beating with the thoughts of youth that are long, long thoughts. They are about will, hope, clarity, honor, rollicking good humor and peril.Ed MycueLife is filled with tragedy and comedy, as well as secrets and evasion, yet only an exceptionally skilled poet can blend playfulness with profundity. Hiram Larew...is such a poet. More Than Anything is brimming with word play, intelligence, feeling and (seeming) contradictions...Reading Larew is like eavesdropping on Emerson having a beer with Frank O’Hara.Kathi Wolfe, Washington Blade < Less

The poetry of Dan Vera is clear, strong, honest and funny. He’s the sharp-eyed observer in the corner who doesn’t say... More > much, but makes every word count. He handles the political and the personal with equal grace, even as the lines blur. Dan Vera is damn good company. You’ll see. Martín Espada

This is what we first understood poetry to be, miraculous and humble. In the deepest part of the heart where we truly reside, there is always a wish that poetry will rinse off artifice. This is it. This is the most satisfying book of poems we can read if we want to witness language with a real poet as its servant. Grace Cavalieri

Ranging through landscape and history, family legacy and gay life, Dan Vera’s poems are melodic, lucid, and concise examinations of “the limits of earthly loving.” They remind us of what blessings the world possesses and what flesh-hating forces endanger those delights. Jeff Mann < Less

Inspired by traveling through northern India, The Kimnama is a blend of history, narrative, stunning imagery, and personal... More > encounters. It’s like the Indian combination of spices called a masala, of which there are myriad variations, weaving a complex and deeply satisfying whole.
A multisectioned narrative of the speaker's travels through India...[with] lots of lyric repetition, beautiful images. Though the work has a balanced, meditative feel, there are glimmers of unexpected humor.
—Sandra Beasley

Unique and informative...Roberts provides the reader with clues of India's rich multifaceted culture...as well as its mystery and draw. From its temples to its smell of flowers, food and fires rising up in pujas...
—Robert Giron, Gival Press < Less