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Thank you! Thanks to all who made Independent Bookstore Day a great day at Beagle and Wolf! To those who couldn't be here and placed orders by phone or online; to those who were in the store; to those who gifted the store generously—all of you made our hearts sing! We love being your independent bookstore! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
With enough talent and ambition to be accepted into the Sorbonne, Trinity had hoped she would be well on her way as an artist by now. On the island, she returns to what sustains her: painting. While her love for this beautiful place is deep and abiding, the few months ahead present a near-impossible task: recover the strong sense of self she's nearly lost during her time away, while holding off her powerful family's efforts to coerce her into submission. When her parents arrive on Baird Island, her father brings along a promising young architect to help with plans to build new guest cabins. Trinity suspects her parents are trying to introduce yet another marriage prospect. Or might she have found an ally? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Our summer group met during the winter, via Zoom. In May, we’ll return to our normal schedule and will meet every other week, May through September. All meetings will be at 10:00 in the morning, for now via ZOOM.
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Please put “retreat deposit” on the memo line. The deposit will be refundable if you can’t come and we’re able to fill your place. Cost of the retreat is $295. This includes the cost of everything but books and travel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It’s been 20 years since the founding of Beagle Books, and we’re celebrating all year long! The 20th of each month we’ll give away a bag stuffed with books and bookish swag. Enter every time you’re in the store, no purchase necessary. If you can’t get in, email sally@beagleandwolf.com to enter. These are the only two ways to enter the drawing. (Note: prize bags must be picked up as we are unable to mail them. We will hold them, however.)
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Late Migrations
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All Adults Here
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Join Jen in conversation with author Mary Casanova to discuss her new book, Waterfall! 
Aether: An Out-of-Body Lyric by Catherine Graham
This book of poetry (or is it essay? or mystery? or grief work?) is pitch perfect. Catherine Graham tells the story of her family—her mother's too-young death from breast cancer, her father's subsequent (and suspicious) death in a car crash, the author's own battle with cancer, and the villain—AKA Nana. The poet has a way of writing that I would call spiraling - and with each revisit of a fact or feeling, a little more is revealed. The writing is tremendous, the metaphors spot on, and even the presentation of the work on the page is done just right. When I read poetry, I have the habit of checking to see where the end of the poem is before I start reading it. I don’t read the last line…...I just like to know where the poem is going to stop. When I started reading Aether, I forgot to do that. I was a couple pages in before I thought, “Hey….” and then realized two things: 1) This may well be one long poem; 2) I don’t care where “the end” is. Aether is in fact one long, almost essay-like poem. Catherine was an only child and so, aside from her villainous grandmother, was left quite alone on Earth as a Graham. In addition to being poetry/essay and memoir, there is mystery and grief work here. The lines that most caught my attention were:Many lies have a spine of truth
It’s how they stand up
——
Parents die in the world
But they never die in their children
——
There is a bird connection between the author and her mother and at one point she uses the phrase “feathered bridge” <3
The most poignant word in the poem, used repeatedly, is “Don.” Read Aether to find out why.
A Virstual Poetry Event
Recently, Sally and I attended a celebration of poetry, a virtual event put on by publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Here’s a link to the event. Note: the poets start speaking and reading several minutes in. I enjoyed the event a great deal and you’ll be seeing reviews of works by some of the poets who were part of the event in the future. I was particularly taken with a poet named francine j. harris. In preparing the book review below, I took note of this author blurb, written by harris: “The journey we take in The Renunciations is nothing short of rescue mission….The poems are startling, disturbing, and relentlessly bold. I can’t imagine a time before having The Renunciations as a part of my emotional ecosystem and poetic landscape.”
Well! Must read! And I’m so glad I did!
The Renunciations by Donika Kelly
I often feel that my favorite poetry has allowed room for the reader’s eyes/mind to rest and contemplate the physical spaces, the intentional blanknesses, left on the page. In The Renunciations, poet Donika Kelly presses the issue on this. Some poems are mostly blacked out lines with only a few words readable - and yet the reader’s eye scans over the blacked out lines and of course that pause, that mystery of text hidden from the reader, is part of the poem as much as the words. At other times, the poet doesn’t even black out text, just leaves us with lines like:
He asks,
[ ]?
I don’t know that I’ve read a collection of poetry in which the spaces speak as loudly as they do in The Renunications. I am also a fan of the poetic advice Let the title do some work. Many of the poems in this collection have allowed the titles to work hard. Some of the titles are practical - ie: “In the Chapel of St. Mary’s”, some helpful, ie:“Donika Questions the Oracle”, and some ethereal, ie: “Portrait of My Father as a Winged Boar.”
If you’re not inclined to take my word for it that this is a collection worth reading, please see poet francine j. harris’ blurb above.
For those of you who know young (student) poets, check out Poetry Speaks!
Youth ages 12+ are invited to participate in this summer oratorical contest. The events are FREE to join and attend. Students will select a published poem from a provided listing and perform that piece at one or more of our events around the state. Each Poetry Speaks event will feature student performances, speaker awards, performances by professional Minnesota poets and an informal reception where students, guests and members of the poetry community can engage in poetry and performance mentoring.
Poetry Speaks, brought to you by Minnesota Poetry Out Loud, engages students age 12+ in poetry recitation and performance. Please share this information with interested students!
To participate students should:
- Choose a piece to perform
- Register for one or more July events
- Practice the piece (memorization encouraged but not required)
- Invite friends and family to attend!
Additional details will be provided after registration and closer to the events. Please contact poetry@mnscsc.org with questions or for more information. We look forward to hearing Poetry Speaks performances this summer!
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country. This FREE program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board and South Central Service Cooperative. Visit mnscsc.org/poetry-out-loud or poetryoutloud.orgfor more information.
This activity is made possible by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.
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