Books published by Poets Choice Publishing

Recently written poems in response to the pandemic

Introduction by MYRA SKALREW Languages are living organisms, according to George Steiner. Barbara Goldberg, in Transformation, comes into her true landscape as she moves between languages, exploring the evolution of her restless and profound journey. At long last, she can call on her multiple resources-poetry and prose, humor and tragedy, life in this century cast in the shadow of "19th Century Vienna." The hidden memories of loved ones. "Even the dead" who "can't keep a secret." Languages-French, English, German, Hebrew. The divergent syntax of each. All the while, "Fear is the ravenous wolf at my door. Sometimes I throw him a scrap, in the shape of a poem." None of this prevents her from tackling these translations-"as satisfying to create as an original (well, a lot of the time!)." We go from Rilke's "Saltimbanques" in French to Israeli poems in Hebrew, including from Iraq, to her long shared life and work with Moshe Dor. The collection includes interviews and Barbara Goldberg's work as International Editor for the Word Work Series including poetry from the Kurdish, Ancient Greek, the French of Jean Cocteau, and Spanish/Mexican. As I write this I am drawn back to Walter Benjamin and George Steiner, as if a "pure language…like a hidden spring seeking to force its way through the silted channels of our differing tongues" will emerge. Transformation is a powerful element in that journey, worthy of our attention. [Note: After Babel: Aspects of Langua

"Enabling Love" traces Tom Kirlin's long journey toward a deep understanding and empathy for the poetry of William Meredith. It is an appreciation based on years of friendship between the two poets in a format that is as complex as the mind of Meredith himself. The award comes during the centenary year of Meredith's birth and is only one of a number of events celebrating the life of this great Americt.an spirit

A remarkable collection of images of Nancy Frankel's sculpture created over seven decades. Sections of the book include an introduction, indoor and outdoor sculptures, paintings, and photographs of her students, friends at Bible Study, and other family and friends. A remarkable testament to her talent and spiritual authority as she turns ninety.

"Witty, sharp, sensual, possessed of a scientist's eye for the precise detail, the memorable image. Elisavietta Ritchie is in love with the natural world of maggot, freezing bilge, the owl…on unheard wings," "berries fed on ash and blood," "branches with lavender fire." She brings a tuned ear for the music of language, a storyteller's gift and a generosity of spirit that delights as it informs. Her books deserve an enthusiastic audience." Colette Inez, The Woman who Loved Worms, Horseplay, and other books.

In this year's 2015 William Meredith Award for poetry, Andrew Oerke writes what must be the definitive analysis of walls with his own elf-like wit and magic. There is no freedom without discipline, form gives rise to structure. A child that does not respect boundaries will never grow into a adult, "no means no," boys are trained when they are courting. Walls are barriers, walls limit us, walls constrain us like time, holding us "green and dying," yet we are able to "sing in our chains like the sea," as Dylan Thomas tells us. Oerke's collection, THE WALL examines every aspect of separation that walls imply from to the limitations of love to those of language itself ("Words be a window, Words be a Wall") It is a tour de force by a master poet writing at the height of his powers. The nineteen meditations on "wall ness" in Section One take on the weight of philosophy at times like theologians pre-occupied with "the other," or psychologists speculating on the nature of the id, ego and superego. But the saving grace in poems that risk verging on the pedantic is how they incorporate humor: many of these poems are extremely funny. geography to the great wall of China, but always in the context of language. "So fence, defense and offence are language's intents. Poetry is starfire; prose is ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Andrew Oerke died unexpectedly in 2013, the sort of instant passing we all hope for at the end. As he says in Section One of THE WALL, "I will always love the wall for its other side." But he was writing poems right up to the end and living the life of philanthropist, scientist, political activist, and entrepreneur he had created in a long distinguished career.