"The poems are so brave and luminous and rich and care about what we need to care about and draw us back to such." – Jack Ridl, author of Losing Season
I'm pleased and grateful to announce that Alice Greene & Co. (Ann Arbor, Michigan) has released my first chapbook of poems, Dog Heart. The signed and numbered, handbound first edition has sold out. The second printing is available now.
The poems are selected from a decade-long record of rambles in lightly settled landscapes of the Midwest, mostly with my dog Keweenaw who died in 2010 at thirteen. The Saugatuck Dunes, central to any understanding I may have attained by now of myself in a place, loom large in Dog Heart. Lakes Michigan and Superior don’t so much loom as infiltrate.
Publisher and editor, Jill Peek, and I honed the almost thirty poems I'd given her down to twelve, a group we hope plays like an album so that a person leaves Dog Heart holding all of it, at once. Whether this succeeds or not is for you to judge.
As for me, I like it. And I like Melanie Boyle's papercut of American bittersweet and the delicate flower embellishments on Dog Heart's dedication and acknowledgments pages. I like Jean Buescher Bartlett's cover design and hand-sewn binding. And I like the feel of the paper and the timeless visage of the font: Baskerville. (Thank you, Jill, Melanie, and Jean!)
I’ll be reading from Dog Heart and signing copies at various places around Michigan. Click here for details on upcoming events. Click here for information about where to buy a copy.
DREAMY!! Congratulations to you, dear one. We will be buying one to put beside Fresh Water on our bookshelf!
I am so happy for you and full of love and admiration for you.
xo
My friend Julie told me about your new book. I live back east, so send me a message about how to get a copy of two. Thanks, and congratulations.
Oh congratulations Alison! I would love 2 copies…. so please let me know the best way to do this! …… how I miss those Lake Michigan shores and all the lovely people that go with it! ~gabby roffey.
being familiar with much of alison’s subject matter i was moved to tears by these poems. i don't admit that easily being a tough guy but keewa was one of a kind and is missed. well done alison.