This is a press release from Saint Julian Press about my friend Melissa Studdard's newest book.
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Other Fine Book Retailers
With Whitmanesque exuberance and voracity, Melissa Studdard’s
I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast is a collection that devours the world even as it offers it—a collection that, through all its doubts and wounds, through “fire, ice, hurricanes, tsunamis, and quakes” arrives “with that tornado in its throat”— love—to spark renewal again and again.
Noting the voluptuous, yet spiritual thrust of the book, Robert Pinsky states, “Melissa Studdard’s high-flying, bold poetic language expresses an erotic appetite for the world: ‘this desire to butter and eat the stars,’ as she says, in words characteristically large yet domestic, ambitious yet chuckling at their own nerve. This poet’s ardent, winning ebullience echoes that of God, a recurring character here, who finds us Her children, splotchy, bawling and imperfect though we are, “flawless in her omniscient eyes.”
Poet Cate Marvin observes, “In so many ways the poems in this book read like paintings, touching and absorbing the light of the known world while fingering the soul until it lifts, trembling. Gates splayed, bodies read as books, and hearts born of mouths, Studdard's study, which is a creation unto itself, would have no doubt pleased Neruda's taste for the alchemic impurity of poetry, which is, as we know, poetry that is not only most pure of heart, but beautifully generous in vision and feeling.”
Melissa Studdard is the author the bestselling novel, Six Weeks to Yehidah, and other books. Her works have received numerous awards, including the Forward National Literature Award and the International Book Award. Her poems and short writings have appeared in dozens of journals and anthologies, and she serves or has recently served as a reviewer-at-large for The National Poetry Review, an interviewer for American Microreviews and Interviews, a professor for Lone Star College System, a teaching artist for The Rooster Moans Poetry Cooperative, an editorial adviser for The Criterion, and host of Tiferet Talk radio.
I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast, poems by Melissa Studdard, is published by Saint Julian Press
My guest today, Dawn Colclasure, shares her thoughts on writing poetry and how the author can escape into his/her own special world.
When it comes to writing poetry, one rule of fiction applies: There are several types of genres to choose from. You can write romantic poetry, horror poetry or fantasy poetry. Writing futuristic poetry is another option – even poets like to envision what kind of world we may one day live in.
And sometimes, it’s not even our world that we write about when we write poetry. It could be any kind of world at all, one of our own making that can exist in fantasy poetry. This is where the poet has the chance to “escape” to a world where we can only dream about certain things actually happening. A cure for a disease? It’s there. A magical potion to take the burn scars away? Find it in the mysterious cellar. Something to use against nightmare monsters compromising our ability to sleep? It’s just a wish away.
Writing fantasy poetry offers the poet another benefit: We have the chance to step into a world where we can be ourselves without criticism. If we always dreamed of traveling the world as a dancing magician, it can happen with fantasy poetry. Another benefit is that writing fantasy poetry allows the poet to be seen by others for who we are on the inside – someone who is big, brave and magical – and not how we are on the outside – scarred, broken or slow.
That’s one thing writing fantasy poetry does for me. With fantasy poetry, I can be beautiful and not scarred or I can hear instead of being deaf. And I can do anything with two good strong hands when I only have one hand that has all five fingers on it (the other hand has three). My poetry chapbook, Follow That Dream, may have poems about what it’s like to be in a hospital so much and teen angst, but it also has fantasy poetry where I got to be a maiden or a sea captain. Poetry brought those worlds to life. Fantasy poetry allows me to create the kind of world where the scarred and disabled are not so limited and completely accepted just as they are.
When the poet sits down to write, no matter what kind of poetry that will be written, it is a chance to create a world where anything is possible, even a cure. Even acceptance. It’s a world where magic happens, and that’s the greatest kind of world to escape to of all.
About the author: Dawn Colclasure is a writer who lives in Oregon. Her articles, essays, poems and short stories have appeared in several newspapers, anthologies, magazines and E-zines. She is the author of seven books, among them
BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents; 365 TIPS FOR WRITERS: Inspiration, Writing Prompts and Beat The Block Tips to Turbo Charge Your Creativity; Love is Like a Rainbow: Poems of Love and Devotion and the children’s book
The Yellow Rose. She is co-author of the book
Totally Scared: The Complete Book on Haunted Houses. Her Web site is at
http://dmcwriter.tripod.com/.
About the book: Follow that dream. Take a few moments to read poems meant to seek refuge from the harsh realities of life, from pain, confusion and loneliness. Allow these poems to take you on a journey of wherever your imagination may lead you. The poems in this book share coming-of-age struggles and the fantasies created in order to offer a temporary escape from the real world.
Follow That Dream
ONLY $5.99 in paperback
And
ONLY $2.99 for Kindle
Gogo Ida’s house in Swaziland
Yesterday, I introduced you to author Linda Rhinehart Neas and her poetry book, Gogo’s Dream: Swaziland Discovered. There’s still time to leave a comment or question for Linda and a chance to win her book. One of the things she talked about was the non-profit organization, Possible Dreams International. The profits from her poetry book go directly to this organization. She also wrote about Gogo Ida and her house, which is pictured here.
Possible Dreams International has three current projects in Swaziland.
- The Daily Emergency Fund: This fund is used to help ill people in several ways: to transport them to a hospital, to pay for doctor or X-ray fees, to give food to the starving, and even to provide blankets and bedding. Without the Daily Emergency Fund, several more people would die in Swaziland because they can not afford the medical care.
- Houses for the Poor: In Swaziland, over 70% of the population live in extreme poverty, (on less than one dollar a day). Most houses in rural Swaziland are made of thatch, mud, sticks, or stone. “Possible Dreams International employs young dedicated builders in the community, who are often orphans themselves, as well as community members to come together and help the family in need. In addition to building a house, we speak to the family at length about their physical and emotional needs. We provide access to medical care, food and water as well as engagement with their community so that the family can help themselves out of the myre of poverty and self-defeat. “
- The Mealie Meal Project: One-third of children in Swaziland are orphans because their parents have died of AIDS. This project provides food to orphans “in the form of 25kg of Corn Soya meal a month as well as 60 eggs, beans and milk.”
Swaziland statistics are heartbreaking. Here they are from the Possible Dreams International website:
Swaziland has the highest prevalence of HIV infection in the world.
42% of the population are infected with HIV, the precursor to AIDS.
There are over 15,000 orphan led households in Swaziland.
So, check out yesterday’s post, leave a comment for Linda, and consider buying her book as a gift for someone–maybe even your own Gogo (Grandma) to help the Gogos and children in Swaziland.
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1321608
& Book Giveaway Comments Contest!
Linda Rhinehart Neas self-published her first written work at the age of seven on the cardboard she gathered from her dad's shirts after they came back from the laundry. Since then, she has written extensively in various venues. She holds an M. Ed. from the University of Massachusetts in Reading and Writing. Her work has been published and performed throughout New England. Gaining inspiration from her four daughters and three granddaughters, she has calculated that she will run dry of ideas for writing sometime in the next millennium. Her first full collection of poems, Winter of the Soul, was published in 2008. Next to writing, teaching is her second passion. Presently, she is working on a book of poetry, essays and memoirs on teaching and two children's books.
Linda is also an ambassador for Possible Dreams International, which is a non-profit grass roots organization that helps communities and families in poverty.
Find out more about Linda by visiting her websites:
Website: www.holisticwritings.com
Blog: Words from the Heart: http://contemplativeed.blogspot.com/
Gogo's Dream: Swaziland Discovered By Linda M. Rhinehart Neas
Gogo's Dream: Swaziland Discovered is the culmination of a month long challenge to write a poem a day. When the author took the challenge, she was determined to write about the people and land that had touched her so deeply.
This book of poetry is inspired by the people of Swaziland and the work of Dr. Maithri Goonetilleke, an Australian physician and poet who spends time working with the people of Swaziland. The poems illustrate the poverty and need in Swaziland but also the love and dignity of this family oriented culture.
All of the profits of this book will go to Possible Dreams International to help the peoples of Swaziland. You can preview and purchase the book here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1321608 (Genre: Poetry)
Swaziland has the highest prevalence of HIV infection in the world--42% of the population are infected with HIV. 70% of the population live on less than one dollar a day. 10% of the population are orphaned children trying to survive without food, shelter or guidance.
Through community and homestead/family based projects Possible Dreams International, Inc aims to bring concrete change into those lives affected by the HIV pandemic, extreme poverty, malnutrition and endemic disease. You can find out more about the non-profit organization here: http://possibledreamsinternational.org/
Book Giveaway Comments Contest!
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Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to be a guest on your blog, Mark. I enjoyed checking out the rest of your blog and book info. Good luck with your books!
Thank you, Dawn and good luck to you too!