Feeding the Crow

"This collaborative, experimental poetry project uses threaded polymetaphoric images by eight Austin poets . . . Peggy Lynch is a well-known Austin poet whose work is admired by every serious poet in town. Lyman Grant edited the late, great men's movement magazine Man! Much of his work is simultaneously classic and deeply personal. Phillip T. Stephens is a longtime local poetry activist gone quiet of late, but his poetry, political and punchy, still burns. The others I know less about, but we know that Susan Bright, who directed this project, is one of the most well-respected poets in Austin, not to mention the rest of the planet, so expect something special." (Ric Williams, Austin Chronicle) Beautiful myth and music poems by Alyce Guynn, urban America through the eyes of a young Chicana poet, Jennifer Cardenas, songs of a Texas woman coming of age by Carlyn Luke Reding, jewel-like image and lyrical poems from Jill Wiggins, a crow poem by guest poet, Jose Flores Peregrino and an introduction by Susan Bright. "'Feeding the Crow" ... is a poetic wonderland filled with imagistic and metaphoric delights. The anthology ... stands head and shoulders above any that I have read recently. Crows have an eye for things that shine.... Shine is exactly what this anthology does, like a galaxy of poetic supernovas. And I'll certainly never look at crows ... without thinking of this wonderful collection of contemporary poetry." James Darrell Skaggs, Professor of English, University of Puerto Rico San Juan "'Feeding the Crow' delights ... What a richness! The range of forms, styles, themes, attitudes could occupy serious students for years, and beginning or recalcitrant students could certainly be won to poetry by the feast--offering of 'Feeding the Crow.'" Terry Everett, Poet and Instructor, Delta State University, Cleveland, Mississippi "These 'crow' poets do more than caw (although they certainly caw forthrightly for justice). They sing with lyric voices about the rich complexity of life when borders are crossed, cultures are blended, and the soul is exposed." Betty Youngkin, Associate Professor of English, The University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio "What happens when eight people get together ... to write and share their work under the sign of the crow, that figure of lingering wildness in the modern city? The human village reconvenes in these pages, and by the time you're done reading this abundant collection, you'll feel as if you have been spending the weekend with relatives you didn't even know were family. 'Feeding the Crow' is good entertainment and a useful introduction to how to write the modern lyric poem in all its variations." Paul Christensen, Professor of English, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas "Welcome to 'Feeding the Crow,' where the local and the colloquial are more than colorful. This collection braids together personal narratives and poems vivid with courageous detail, as each writer challenges us to sing our own "serious songs" in our many voices and languages. Excellent models for students of writing everywhere." Marty Williams, Teacher and Writer, San Francisco Unified School District and Bay Area Writing Project