On the 2/15/23 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:
Dr. Andy and poet Robert Thomas discuss Thomas’s new book, Sonnets with Two Torches and One Cliff, including his approach to sonnetry, themes of unconventional jealousy, and the diminished attention span of modern writers and their readers. He shares a poem using the familiar and human to convey an alien longing. Next up is writer Beverly Burch, who tells us about her new book Leave Me a Little Want, its themes of hunger, and how it emerged from our zeitgeist of impending catastrophe. She shares a poem musing about a muse. Livermore poet laureate emerita Connie Post rejoins the program to talk with Dr. Andy about her new book Between Twilight, and its bold exploration of liminal spaces, before sharing two rich and captivating poems. Finally, Dr. Andy reads an essay from his weekly blog, a story about foreshadowing, or simply the payoffs of a kindhearted mentorship.
Robert Thomas’s latest book, Sonnets with Two Torches and a Cliff, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. His first book, Door to Door, was selected by Yusef Komunyakaa for the Poets Out Loud Prize and published by Fordham University, and his collection Dragging the Lake was also published by Carnegie Mellon. His novella Bridge, a sort of novel in prose poems, was published by BOA and received the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Fiction. He has received an NEA fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. Thomas lives with his wife and their three cats in Oakland.
Beverly Burch is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Leave Me a Little Want (Terrapin Books), and two nonfiction books. Her work has won the John Ciardi Prize, a Lambda Literary Award, and a Gival Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Audre Lorde Award. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in New England Review, Gulf Coast, Southern Review, Denver Quarterly, and Los Angeles Review. She is just completing her first novel. Find out more at www.beverlyburch.com.
Connie Post is a San Francisco Bay Area Poet who has been writing and publishing for over twenty five years. Her work has received praise from Al Young, Ursula LeGuin, Ellen Bass, Maxine Chernoff, Dean Rader, and former US Poet Laureate Juan Herrera.
Post’s first full length collection Floodwater was the winner of the 2014 Lyrebird Award from Glass Lyre Press. Her second full length collection Prime Meridian was just released in January of 2020. (Glass Lyre Press) Prime Meridian was a finalist in the 2020 Best Book Awards, 2021 International Book Awards and the 2020 American Fiction Awards. (American Book Fest). Prime Meridian was selected as a distinguished favorite in the 2022 Independent Press Awards. Her third full-length collection Between Twilight was published this February by New York Quarterly Books.
She has two chapbooks from Finishing Line Press And When The Sun Drops and Trip Wires. Her other books include Waking State (Small Poetry Press) and 2 other self-published books about parenting a son with autism.
Robert Thomas and Beverly Burch will read at the Poetry Night Reading Series today, Thursday, February 16th, at the John Natsoulas Gallery.
Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.