A Matter of Selection
by Carol Smallwood
Publisher:Poetic Matrix Press (March 5, 2018)
Publisher:Poetic Matrix Press (March 5, 2018)
Paperback:120 pages
ISBN-10:0998146986
Available on Amazon
$17
Carol Smallwood,
a whole battery of poetry chapbooks to her credit, has written another
masterpiece. By that, I don't mean something utterly impossible to
decipher or something that reminds the reader of poets' sonnets from her
11th grade English Literature class. Many of the poems in Smallwood's
A Matter of Selection are just as intricate, just as formulated. The thing is,
you won't notice unless you make them into a puzzle to be unraveled
or refigured like a Rubic's cube. And why would you want to do that?
Smallwood
writes intricate poems that are easy--even lazy. We read them for the spell
they create, the nostalgia, the wonder. Each is like images in the
opening poem: A melody. Morning fog. A path.
Smallwood's
repetitive line, " . . . it makes sense to cut up pieces to sew with needle and
thread" in her poem "The Universe" lets her unraveling of the cosmos
be understood with subtle sounds. "Read," "bed," and, yes "dread." You
won't need a reviewer to tell you not to sweat it. You'll just go with the
gentle flow.
Smallwood's
A Matter of Selection are poems all the better in the moment. Save
analytics for another time, another chapbook another text. Like a child
listening to her mother's voice, no need to analyze.
Available on Amazon
$17
Carol Smallwood,
a whole battery of poetry chapbooks to her credit, has written another
masterpiece. By that, I don't mean something utterly impossible to
decipher or something that reminds the reader of poets' sonnets from her
11th grade English Literature class. Many of the poems in Smallwood's
A Matter of Selection are just as intricate, just as formulated. The thing is,
you won't notice unless you make them into a puzzle to be unraveled
or refigured like a Rubic's cube. And why would you want to do that?
Smallwood
writes intricate poems that are easy--even lazy. We read them for the spell
they create, the nostalgia, the wonder. Each is like images in the
opening poem: A melody. Morning fog. A path.
Smallwood's
repetitive line, " . . . it makes sense to cut up pieces to sew with needle and
thread" in her poem "The Universe" lets her unraveling of the cosmos
be understood with subtle sounds. "Read," "bed," and, yes "dread." You
won't need a reviewer to tell you not to sweat it. You'll just go with the
gentle flow.
Smallwood's
A Matter of Selection are poems all the better in the moment. Save
analytics for another time, another chapbook another text. Like a child
listening to her mother's voice, no need to analyze.
MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion and a whole lot you didn't know including how to use blurbs from reviews to sell books to catalogs. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically! This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Authors and reviewers would love to hear from you. Please feel free to include the URL (permalink) of your post in your own blog or website.