Reach For July
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The poems in Dianna Henning’s new book, “Camaraderie of the Marvelous”, are
an invitation to wonder. From the opening poem, “Because He Cannot Be
Human, and She Cannot Be Donkey,” Henning explores the miracle of
connection, the love of her sister, and the donkey so strong that
momentarily they will meet…
reaching across the fence to hold, to stay held, to be
steadied by what fierce yearning as brings opposites together.
—reviewed by Mary McCarthy
Introduction
With how busy July can be, it's an ideal time to celebrate the strides we've made so far this year, as poets and as people. How fitting, then, that this edition of KBB features folks in the Midwest, writing about the region that called me home. As a child of metro-Detroit (then a student of Boston) and an adult of Chicago, I'm proud to present a blog post highlighting a variety of good writerly news, from the Midwest all the way to San Francisco. This one feels both personal and pivotal to realizing our vision for the blog: a space for people everywhere to be recognized as belonging to a poetry community. Thank you and congratulations to Dale Cottingham, Lana Hechtman Ayers, Diana Henning, Mary McCarthy, Jon Allen, Alan Basting, and Samantha Kolber for your poetic contributions!
Submissions are lightly edited
Wins & Accolades
In one year, Real Rhyming Poems shelved at over 25 libraries, 2 colleges
“My book, Real Rhyming Poems (published by Kelsay Books in April 2022), is
now available at over 25 public libraries and two colleges, including the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and Detroit area, in four Midwest states, including Illinois and Indiana. It is also available at the Poets House in New York City.
Donating a book to each library was part of the fun for me. I recently created a “Real Rhyming Poems” Facebook page to post pictures of the book on different library shelves, which you should follow to discover hidden public library gems!
If you are thinking of trying to get your book cataloged at a library, I
suggest you: 1. Directly contact the library as the author and let them know that the book is traditionally (not self-) published, 2. Offer a connection your book has to the library (i.e. it is near you, or you are from that area), and 3. Ask if they would be more likely to catalog it if you donated a copy.”
— Jon Allen
Blue Water bards bond with welcoming weekly Zoom open mic
On June 26, Alan Basting read selections from his Kelsay Book published last May, Apples & Crows. He let us know that “Blue Water has been an active open mic for poetry in Michigan for several years now and includes a broad range of poets and readers from all over the country and in Canada.” Poets in the Detroit area, look no further than Facebook to catch the next open mic: George Wylie, the event's founding coordinator, announces Blue Water meetings to the Poetry Society of Michigan.
Samantha Kolber's 'Birth of a Daughter' Tops SF Book Festival List
Congratulations Samantha! The San Francisco Book Festival selected Birth of a Daughter as the 2023 winner in Poetry. Full list of honorees here.
'Swallowing the Light' by John Schneider Honored as IBA Finalist
Congratulations John! After winning the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award in Poetry, Swallowing the Light was recognized as a Finalist in the 2023 International Book Awards.
Book Reviews
Midwest Hymns
by Dale Cottingham
Kelsay Books, 2023
reviewed by Lana Hechtman Ayers
Dale Cottingham’s Midwest Hymns are indeed true songs of praise. Though not religious, as the cover image of a church may imply, his poems embody the spirit of the landscape and the people of the Midwest. The subtext is yearning—for home, connection, forgiveness, a sense of peace. The language of Cottingham’s poems is deceptively straightforward, quiet and unassuming, but the images he creates are poignant, cinematographic, and haunting.
Some of the poems hark back to earlier times, as in the opening poem “History Once Removed,” about a one-room schoolhouse relocated to county fairgrounds as an exhibit.
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by Dianna MacKinnon Henning
Kelsay Books, 2023
reviewed by Mary McCarthy in Psychological Perspectives
The poems in Dianna Henning’s new book, Camaraderie of the Marvelous, are
an invitation to wonder. From the opening poem, “Because He Cannot Be
Human, and She Cannot Be Donkey,” Henning explores the miracle of
connection, the love of her sister, and the donkey so strong that
momentarily they will meet…
reaching across the fence to hold, to stay held, to be
steadied by what fierce yearning as brings opposites together.
In a divided world, connections are made possible by our yearning for them,
our recognition that the world and its creatures are also yearning for us,
and miraculous connections are made across and “Beyond the Fence.”
Connections possible because originally there were no separations, we were
all part of the same whole, and our suffering began
when we stopped seeing
everything as part of us.
Henning shows how our lives are rooted in the physical, in the hungers and
thirsts we share with the doe and buck, that our very imagining of the
“silvered wolf” makes him “the heart’s centerpiece.” The natural world
beyond our fences reminds us of our mistake, of the “fracture” that grew
because we have “forgotten the wholeness of the world.” Faithfully, the
world remains, calling us; the animals “continue to weep” as separation
brings suffering to all.