Awards
Your Crib, My Qibla shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature and named a finalist for the Julie Suk Award
Dear Diaspora named a finalist for the Julie Suk Award
Burning the Breeze named a finalist for Evans Handcroft Award
Reviews
Review in The Week:
“This is the book I’ve been trying to press into everyone’s hands for two years. It’s a breathtaking poetry collection. The poems — about war, God, love, Afghan history, migration, and Rilke — will leave you goose-bumped and weeping.”
Review in Tikkun:
“I should note two problems at the outset with regard to my reviewing this really superb book. The first is that I’m a law professor (of American constitutional law) and not a Biblical scholar. Although am certainly eager to explain why I was so deeply impressed by this book, no one should confuse my responses with those of a professional scholar in the field. The style of the book, which features a remarkably accessible prose, suggests that it is aimed at a wider audience as well, including people like myself, and I certainly hope it reaches that audience.”
Review in Publishers Weekly:
“Kooser explains his process for his unusual latest in an author’s note: ‘a daily routine of getting up long before dawn, sitting with coffee, pen, and notebook, and writing whatever drifts into my mind.’ Appropriately, many of the poems refer to the time of year and weather conditions under which they were composed; ‘Wind in the Chimney’ opens ‘The wind turns and turns in the chimney,/ wearing her long black gown, her shawl/ of February chill,’ while ‘A Light Snow in Late March’ opens ‘There is a kind of light, thin snow/ that the wind can’t pick back up/ once it has put it down.’ In keeping with the collection’s thematic playfulness and interest in loosely following the mind’s associations, these pages are rife with references to the animal world, ‘little goldfish spots of sunlight,’ and in ‘Harpist,’ the musician’s instrument is transformed: ‘She has taken a great golden moth/ into her arms, and with both hands/ she keeps its wings pressed closed/ to keep it from flying away.’ Though some of these poems read like early drafts, there is much to be admired in Kooser’s improvisational approach to composition.”
Review in Canadian Thoroughbred:
“Gilden’s book came about from hours of interviews with those close to Delp and Franklin. He uncovers Franklin’s fast rise to the top that came with heavy drug use, riches and excess, which came to him in part through Delp and his son Gerald. In the mid70s, horse racing was all about excess with side stories of racism, corruption and fame. It was all too much for Franklin.”
Review in Michigan War Studies:
“Enemies among Us is a truly comprehensive investigation of wartime internment in the United States, exploring the treatment of citizens of German, Italian, and Japanese heritage. It carefully distinguishes between the interwoven processes of relocation, internment, and repatriation. Its author, historian John Schmitz (Northern Virginia Community College–Annandale), expands the chronology of these narratives as well, stressing parallels with the internment of German Americans during World War I.”
Author Interviews
Interview on Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books™️ Podcast
Interview with A Book & Its Author Podcast
Interview with Six Gun Justice Podcast
UNP blog 