New Reviews: Poetry & Drama

Vietnamese-born poet Nam Le's second poetry book speaks provocatively to the perspectives of people with multicultural identities, especially those whose experiences include a violent history. Many of his words are haunting, and his slow, steady way of speaking creates anticipation for what comes next. Listeners can hear the darkness and trauma in his tone. In the poem... Read More

Listening to Alice Notley read her own poetry is rather like visiting her mind. It may take a while to get used to the strange environment, but eventually one adapts and starts to feel comfortable. The poetry still requires attention and investigation, but it is rewarding. Notley's voice is intense and immediate, almost as though she is not reading the poems but improvising... Read More

Listeners will find this audio play impactful. Pat, an elderly mother with Alzheimer's, is being placed in a care home by her daughter, Margaret. Margaret, wonderfully played by Juliet Stevenson, derives a great deal of comfort and spiritual regeneration from this special time with her mother. The two share a troubled past since Pat suffered from depression when her two... Read More

Richard Blanco, a Cuban American poet, narrates an intimate collection of poems that reflect on humanity, home, family, identity, and healing. His voice is deep and intense. He enunciates words in English and Spanish with clarity and steadiness. Many endearing moments are conveyed in his tone as he depicts different characters in his life--sometimes his mother, grandmother, and... Read More

Hala Alyan's velvety tones add a paradoxical dimension to her collection of poems exploring themes of displacement and identity. Alyan, a Palestinian American poet, novelist, and clinical psychologist, illuminates the diasporic experience in these poems but also addresses general discord in life, especially the trials she experienced after an ectopic pregnancy. Her use of... Read More

Leading a fine ensemble cast, acting stalwart Richard Schiff brings easy kindness, humor, and a delightful Eastern European accent to the brilliant and eccentric Dr. George Papanicolaou, inventor of the Pap smear. It's 1959, and hiring an intelligent young woman as an assistant seems like a no-brainer. But Nan, played with an energetic goodness by Ginnifer Goodwin, has more... Read More

This poetry collection draws, in both theme and imagery, on the minutiae of everyday life, particularly in the working-class neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon, where Michael Dickman grew up. His mother, who worked for the regional power company, has an especially strong presence, as you might expect in this largely autobiographical volume. The poems are not simple but, like all... Read More

This collection of poetry, narrated by the author, is generally strong, but some of the poems do not convert well to the audio format. The author describes how they appear on the page, but unless the listener has downloaded the accompanying pdf file and has access to it while listening, the poems can be difficult to understand, especially where lines of text overlap others.... Read More

Anyone who wants to know what's going on in contemporary Black poetry should seek out this anthology. Most of the big names, including Rita Dove and Nikki Giovanni, are here, as are a great many less famous but highly skilled poets. The quality of the poems ranges from quite good to fabulous; there's not a lemon in this bushel. Performers Mahogany L. Brown and Joel Damany... Read More

It's always informative, at the least, to hear a poet's own readings of his work--even if those are not always the most evocative or entertaining renditions. Michael Ondaatje's poetry is quite fine; an earlier collection won the Governor General's Literary Award (Canada). But his performance of these works, alas, does not do them justice. The poems return again and again to... Read More