New Reviews: Poetry & Drama

Kevin Young has become a major figure in poetry--among other jobs, he's the poetry editor for THE NEW YORKER--and this self-narrated audiobook helps listeners understand why. While the poems are thoroughly grounded in the African-American experience, there are few cultural references that will be obscure or alien to other Americans. Young draws on the common ground of music,... Read More

Race, religion, and culture--maybe these aren't the safest topics for a dinner party, but they all come bubbling up to the surface in this edgy, emotional, and fast-paced drama about a mixed-race professional couple who suddenly find that their dreams may be at risk. Played by an ensemble of some of Hollywood's most in-demand character actors, Amir (Hari Dhillon) has left his... Read More

It's the sounds that bring the memories flooding back. The ubiquitous Latin rhythms of the "I Love Lucy" theme song. The staccato dialogue and fine sound design that mimic the feel of the early 1950s. And, especially, the marvelous performances of Oscar Nuñez and Sarah Drew, who capture every nuance of Ricky and Lucy's voices. It's late 1949, and radio and film star Lucille... Read More

The Alliance Theatre of Atlanta has created a dramatic version of Trethewey's 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning collection, and it is a marvelous presentation of the poetry. January LaVoy is The Poet, reading the works that Trethewey wrote for and about her mother, and Thomas Neal Antwon Ghant is The Native Guard, representing the men who traded service in the Union army for freedom... Read More

If you have an interest in classic Norse literature, this audiobook is required listening. If all you know about the Norse gods comes from Marvel, it will be a revelation. Jackson Crawford, who translated, introduces, and reads the text, also brings a knowledge of correct pronunciation, which will be unfamiliar to most. As a bonus, he translates one of the poems into... Read More

Listeners first encountering Shakespeare's sonnets may have trouble with the language. Fortunately, James Anthony (who also introduces this audiobook) has put all of them into modern idiomatic English. After some explanatory notes by actor/novelist/poet Stephen Fry and an introduction by Anthony, the Royal Shakespeare Company's Paapa Essiedu narrates each original sonnet,... Read More

Alice Walker, the first female African-American winner of the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for THE COLOR PURPLE, earnestly delivers her introspective poems about how violence, prejudice, and discrimination have affected the world we live in. In an intimate and reflective tone, she narrates 70 poems, universal and personal, which include her musings on global political history,... Read More