Paisley Rekdal, Heritance (Copper Canyon) — published most recently in NER 46.1
“Ambitious . . . Rekdal uses ekphrasis and narrative to examine how ideas about family, race, education, and beauty shape one’s understanding of the world. . . . [She pushes] seemingly settled perspectives until they give way to discomfort, contradiction, or revelation. . . . Rekdal resists easy answers or conclusions in this memorable work” — Publishers Weekly
Frank Stafford edited by A. P. Walton, Letters of a Poet Dying: The Selected Correspondence of Frank Stafford (University of Arkansas Press) — Stafford appeared in NER 13.3-4
“This selection of letters will delight fans of Stanford’s poetry, but it’s also a great entry point for those curious to see what the Arkansas legend is all about. . . The water is dark, but the fishing is good.” — Z. D. Harrod, Arkansas Times
Samuel Amadon, Divers (University of Chicago Press) — published in NER 27.2
“Assured and expansive, Amadon’s sonnets achieve an exquisite balance of rigor and ease . . . Attentive, embodied, and turning with the turning of seasons, these sonnets are alive to the conditions that make thought itself possible, issuing an invitation to fall in love with living again and again.” — Cecily Parks, author of The Seeds
Hera Naguib, Rupture Anthem (University of Pittsburgh Press) — published in NER 42.4
“Rupture Anthem arrives fully formed and fully armed. Hera Naguib’s debut is lush, borderless, making an utterly original cartography out of expulsion and ‘sudden unbelonging’ — poems that know exactly where they stand even when the ground gives way.” — Tishani Doshi, author of Egrets
Wendell Berry, Dispatches from Rural America (Counterpoint) — published most recently NER 11.1
“Berry fans will be delighted to see this new offering which continues in his best tradition, while new readers will discover an intelligent and forthright thinker whose relevance remains steadfast along with his unwavering dedication to rural life.” — Booklist
Dylan Weir, Public House (Trio House Press) — published in NER 41.4
“Dylan Weir’s Public House is just that: a place of gathering, of storytelling, of last call. . . . These poems are fresh, intimate, sometimes wild, self-examining, and always generous. Public House is a book to be passed back and forth between friends as the evening turns into day.” — Matthew Dickman, author of Husbandry
Gregory Spatz, The Vavaldi Church (Flexible Press) — published most recently in NER 42.3
“Spatz has done the impossible. He has written a novel about music that celebrates its intricate powers-how it can inspire, heal, transport, and glorify, how it connects us with the past and holds us in the present-that actually sings on the page.” — Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth
Kristien Hemmerechts translated by Paul Vincent, The Woman who Fed the Dogs (World Editions) — Hemmerechts appeared in NER 35.3
“Brilliantly written … With this book, Hemmerechts has pulled off a very compelling thought experiment with an ingeniously developed main character. All this in fluent prose, which makes the book a real page-turner.” — Hebban