Juliana Spahr in Oakland

We are proud to publish Juliana Spahr's third collection of poetry, Well Then There Now, which was just released as a Black Sparrow title in mid-May.

From her first poem, written in Honolulu, Hawaii, to the last, written in Berkeley, California, about her childhood in Appalachia, in the collection Spahr takes us on a wild patchwork journey backwards and forwards in time and space, tracking change – in ecology, society, economies, herself. Through a collage of "found language," a deep curiosity about place, and a restless intelligence, Spahr demonstrates the vibrant possibilities of an investigatory poetics. This verse is more inclusive than exclusive; consistently Spahr includes grape varietals, the shrinking of public beachfront in Hawaii, endangered plant, fish, and wildlife species, the melting of the polar ice caps, and comparative poverty rates in her eclectic repertoire. She also knows how to sing – in the oldest tradition of poetry – of loss, and her lament for nature is the most keen.

Spahr will be reading at the next installment of Poetry Flash at Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland, CA with Genine Lentine on Sunday, May 29th at 3pm.

If you're in the area, we urge you to attend.