Lemuria Bookstore Blog

Nick Flynn’s Some Ether (Graywolf Press, May 2000) was his first collection of poetry. I read it based on a recommendation from a friend of mine who is a poet. I was coming off of a long Yeats binge and was wondering what was being read by the people writing poetry, and this was one [...]

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John came back from a short vacation and put a book of poetry on the desk for me to look at. It was Of This World by Joseph Stroud and oh what a stunning book of poetry this is! From his very brief poems to several amazing sustained contemplative poems, each deeply moving selection is [...]

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Of This World by Joseph Stroud Copper Canyon Press (2009) A great pleasure derived from reading is the post-reading experience of sharing good books with other readers. Often while reading a book, and for almost any reason, a person will pop into your mind as someone who would enjoy these words and ideas. Usually, when [...]

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The Late Poems of Meng Chiao Princeton (1996) Translated by David Hinton Meng Chiao (751-814) wrote most of these experimental poems between 807-814. Late Poems is a radical and major work of deep introspection. Even though it was written over a thousand years ago, many of these poems read fresh and contemporary: Meng Chiao’s “symbolic [...]

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Companions for the Journey is a series showcasing inspirational work by well-known writers in a small-book format designed to be carried along your journey through life. I have enjoyed reading these books and blogged about some of them in this series before. This spring three new titles were issued and I found all three to [...]

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Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology Translated and edited by David Hinton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2008 Before Thanksgiving I began a leisurely read of this “all-star” poetry collection which spans 2700 years (1500 B.C.E. to 1200 C.E.). The anthology of nearly 500 poems “focuses on a relatively small number of poets and provides selections [...]

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For those of you who don’t know him, Greg Miller is a professor at Millsaps and a poet who has several publications under his belt. His latest book of poems, Watch, is coming out in October and I am really looking forward to it! Dr. Miller’s past publications include: Iron Wheel, Rib Cage and Mississippi [...]

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In Search of Small Gods by Jim Harrison Cooper Canyon (2009) *     *     * For the last fifty days or so, I’ve been reading Jim’s new poetry book as slowly as I can. I finished last week but I still feel unable to express my thoughts about this beautiful collection of poems. Small Gods is [...]

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The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain Translated by Red Pine Copper Canyon Press (2000) About five years ago during some troubles, a friend visited while he was reading The Collected Songs. Before he left, he gave me his copy with the inscription: “For John, who could use this book.” And I have: reading, rereading and [...]

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Where the World Does Not Follow: Buddhist China in Picture and Poem Translated by Mike O’Connor / Photography by Steven R. Johnson Wisdom Publications: Boston (2002) *     *     * O’Connor’s translation of ancient poems, alongside Johnson’s breathtaking photography, bring these ancient words to the present. Zen and Taoist poetry coupled with timeless images make for [...]

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