Ron Silliman Reviews Degrees of Latitude

Ron Silliman writes a very thought-provoking and complimentary review of Laurel Blossom's Degrees of Latitude on his blog today. Describing it as "completely persuasive" he writes "This is not the language of lyric verse, nor of the particular sort of Quietist confessionalism one might associate, say, with Carolyn Forché or Jane Miller, both of whom blurbed this book. There is a grit to these descriptions."

Ron Silliman has been writing an interesting series of posts on the William Carlos Williams award, which he judged this year, and which brought Degrees of Latitude to his attention. While it didn't win the award, it was one of a handful of books that particularly caught Silliman's attention and he feels deserves awards.

There's a link to the review on Ron's blog.

You can buy Degrees of Latitude at the Four Way Books website where all our titles are available at a 32% discount. You'll be supporting independent publishing AND saving yourself money!

NYer reviews Kevin Prufer

This week's New Yorker includes Kevin Prufer's latest book in its Briefly Noted section, 4/28/08:

"The America of Prufer’s fourth collection is an empire in decline, a medicated landscape (“snow / like little tranquilizers all over the yard”) peopled by pilgrims to shopping malls. The book opens with a panoramic vision of the aftermath of apocalypse—“expired” cars, silenced TVs, coffins “unmoored and happy with the storm”—but ends intimately, with a child’s memory of his first encounter with death; the thin wire between political failure and personal grief runs taut throughout. In the eerie centerpiece poem, the suburbs are sealed under an enormous parachute, its nylon shimmering; icicles line the seams and crash into the streets, and the narrator walks for days, never finding the edge."

Congratulations, Kevin!

Kevin also received a wonderful review from Robert C. Jones in the Kansas City Star which syndicated to a dozen other papers across the United States, including the Miami Herald .

Of National Anthem , Marie Howe has written “From within the American Empire, [Prufer] is listening to the memory of the future. . . Can this be a poet who can writes the sentence we are, as a people, on the verge of saying?”

National Anthem is available directly from Four Way Books at a 32% discount. Order it, and all our other titles, here

C. Dale Young's The Second Person a ForeWord BOTYA Finalist!

We're delighted to post news that C. Dale Young's second book of poems, The Second Person , has been announced as a ForeWord magazine Book of the Year Award Finalist. Find out about the awards, the magazine, and other titles at the ForeWord magazine website. Their press release is below.

Congratulations, C. Dale, we have our fingers crossed for you (which will explain any ttypos in this posting...). Winners announced May 29th.

You can buy The Second Person at the Four Way Books website where all our titles are available at a 32% discount. You'll be supporting independent publishing AND saving yourself money!

FOREWORD BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

ForeWord Magazine announces the finalists in the tenth annual Book of the Year Awards. These books represent some of the best work coming from today's independent press community.

Nearly 1,600 books were entered in 61 categories. These were narrowed to 658 finalists, from 350 publishers.

The winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers, selected from our readership. ForeWord's Book of the Year Awards program was designed to discover distinctive books across a number of genres.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor's Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced at a special program at BookExpo America at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on May 29. The winners of the two Editor's Choice Prizes will be awarded $1,500 each. The ceremony is open to all BEA attendees.

Kirkus Praises Eileen Pollack's In the Mouth

Kirkus Reviews will review Eileen Pollack's forthcoming collection of short stories and a novella, In the Mouth , week beginning March 1st.

In a sneak preview, we can reveal that they described her book as "Delicate but dazzling" and praise it for its "incisive, beautifully crafted stories about family relationships, focused especially on the dynamic between fathers and daughters."

"It’s hard to choose favorites here, for all are worthy," writes the reviewer. We heartily agree! Congratulations, Eileen.

Forrest Hamer's Rift reviewed

Cutbank has just posted a thoughtful and complimentary review of Forrest Hamer's Rift . The reviewer, poet Helen Losse, writes: "Rift is a book that begs to be read again and again, for in seeking reconciliation, we must notice the rift."

Read the full interview, and many more reviews and thoughts on poetry, on the Cutbank blog.

You can buy Rift at the Four Way Books website where all our titles are available at a 32% discount. You'll be supporting independent publishing AND saving yourself money!

(Thanks to Ron Silliman's blog for the link.)

Hear Eileen Pollack on Detroit Today

This Friday, February 8th, Eileen Pollack, author of the forthcoming In the Mouth , a collection of stories and a novella, will be featured on WDET 101.9FM's DETROIT TODAY program. An interview with her will air between 10 and 11am. If you're not in the Detroit area, you can listen live by clicking the link above.

If you're in Ann Arbor on Wed. March 19th at 7pm, catch Eileen live, reading and signing from In the Mouth , hosted by the great indie bookstore Shaman Drum. Full details here.

One of the stories from the collection, "The Bris," was featured in Best American Short Stories 2007 , and Eileen was recently described as "an American talent" by Stephen King in the New York Times Book Review

National Anthem a Good Read, say book critics

Kevin Prufer's National Anthem has been voted onto the National Book Critics' Circle's winter list of good reads. The list is a wonderful place to start for anyone looking for some early 2008 poetry reading, and don't forget that National Anthem will shortly be available directly from Four Way Books at a 32% discount. Order it, and all our other titles, here .

Congratulations, Kevin!

Kevin Prufer on Poetry Daily

Kevin Prufer, whose fourth book National Anthem is forthcoming from Four Way Books this April, will be Thursday's featured poem on Poetry Daily.



Of National Anthem , Marie Howe has written “From within the American Empire, [Prufer] is listening to the memory of the future. . . Can this be a poet who can writes the sentence we are, as a people, on the verge of saying?”

National Anthem will shortly be available directly from Four Way Books at a 32% discount. Order it, and all our other titles, here

Four Way at AWP

This Thursday to Saturday, come and find Four Way Books at the AWP Conference 2008 where we'll be offering significant discounts on our titles, where you'll be able to hear our authors read, and where you can get your books signed by some of them. We're celebrating our 15th anniversary, and almost all of our back catalogue will be available for purchase!

AWP Discount: $10 per book (less than 2/3 of cover price). Buy three or more and get them for $8 a book!

(Even if you're not registered for the conference, the Book Fair is open to the public on Saturday February 2nd.)

You'll find us at:
TABLES 42 and 43
Rhinelander Gallery, 2nd Floor


Author Signings (at our Tables)

Friday 2:00-3:00
Daniel Tobin & C. Dale Young

Friday 3:00-4:00
April Ossmann & Jeffrey Harrison

Friday 4:00-5:00
Laurel Blossom & Kevin Prufer



15th Anniversary Reading

Saturday 1:30-2:45
(Regent Parlor Hilton, 2nd Floor)

Laurel Blossom
Jeffrey Harrison
April Ossmann
Kevin Prufer
Daniel Tobin
C. Dale Young

April Ossmann's Anxious Music Reviewed

April Ossmann, whose debut collection Anxious Music Publisher's Weekly described as written in "a voice remarkable for its confidence and fierceness," has received a glowing review from Beth Kanell at the fabulous specialty mystery, poetry, and fine press shop, Kingdom books, who enthuses: "I'll be reading this collection again. And again."

If you're in Vermont, stop by Kingdom Books to pick up a copy of April's book. Or, you can buy Anxious Music at the Four Way Books website where all our titles are available at a 32% discount. You'll be supporting independent publishing AND saving yourself money!

April will also be reading and signing books at AWP this weekend, for those of you descending on Manhattan.