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It's only appropriate that Earth Day should fall in National Poetry Month; what more universal Muse have poets known over the centuries than Mother Nature? (Well all right, a case could be made for love, sure, but Mother Nature has surely broken fewer hearts and inspired more odes than laments in comparison.) In honor of … Continue reading Poem of the Day: ‘A Song for the Rolling Earth’ by Walt Whitman
It's Earth Day, and we're happy to be participating in an Austin-wide campaign to raise money for local non-profit organizations. All day today, bring in your 5% Day postcard (available here and at participating business across the city) and we'll donate 5% of your purchase to one of the non-profits in our area committed to … Continue reading We Wish to Speak for the Trees
This Saturday, April 23 at 2pm we'll welcome Cuban poet Jorge Enrique Gonzalez-Pacheco to read from his new collection, Bajo La Luz de Mi Sangre (Under the Light of My Blood.) This unique volume of poetry, printed in both Spanish and English, just received a fantastic review in The Latin American Review of Books. Jorge … Continue reading Poem of the Day: ‘Habana’ by Jorge Enrique Gonzalez-Pacheco
Last week we promised a super secret sneaky Lemony Snicket contest, and it looks like it's turned up over on the BookKids blog - how sneaky, indeed! If you composed a 13 Words songs for Snicket's disappointing event last week, head over and find out if the winner is YOU! Does this sound familiar: "I … Continue reading Sneaky Snicket Sweepstakes
Today's poem of the day comes from Scott Montgomery, the head of MysteryPeople, BookPeople's mystery bookstore-within-a-bookstore. Here's what Scott has to say about Onion Street by Reed F. Coleman: "Many of today's finest crime writers are also are accomplished poets, so it seemed like MysteryPeople should get in on the act for National Poetry Month. … Continue reading Poem of the Day: ‘Onion Street’ by Reed F. Coleman
Yesterday the winners of the 2011 Pulitzer Prizes were announced. The honor in the Poetry category went to the collection The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (Grove Press) by Kay Ryan. (Other finalists included The Common Man by Maurice Manning and Break the Glass by Jean Valentine.) The Best of It is Ryans' … Continue reading Poem of the Day: ‘This Life’ by Kay Ryan
We're so excited about our Top Shelf pick for May, Galore, the new novel by Michael Crummey, that we couldn't wait for our print newsletter to come out to share this review by Master Bookseller Kester Smith. Galore is already the winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book; Caribbean & Canada and the … Continue reading Review: ‘Galore: A Novel’
It's still April, which means it's still National Poetry Month. Today's poem of the day is Gnosticism III by Anne Carson, from her collection, Decreation: Poetry, Essays, Opera. Carson is known for her innovative work with poetry, composing entire novels in verse such as Autobiography in Red, which was a New York Times Notable Book … Continue reading Poem of the Day: ‘Gnosticism III’ by Anne Carson
Today's poem of the day is recommended by BookPeople bookseller Kester Smith: Imagining Defeat by David Berman. Music fans will recognize Berman from his band the Silver Jews, as well as from his contributions to the band Pavement. Imagining Defeat comes from Berman's 1999 collection, Actual Air. ~ Imagining Defeat She woke me up at … Continue reading Poem of the Day: ‘Imagining Defeat’ by David Berman
If you're a fan of David Foster Wallace, then you've likely been reveling in the plethora of articles and reviews that have flooded media outlets surrounding the release of his unfinished posthumous novel, The Pale King. In honor of the book's original release date, we've rounded up a few of our favorites here. For an … Continue reading DFW ‘The Pale King’ Round-up
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