Titles

The Congress of Luminous Bodies by Donna Hilbert

“The title of this volume embodies the playful, joyful and profound tone that pervades Donna’s work. How marvelous to be party to a congress of luminous bodies! The poems in this book testify to the skill of an accomplished poet whose job is to turn the experiences of everyday life – its minutiae, disappointments, tragedies and frivolities equally – into art. At turns serious, acerbic, or comical, Donna’s poems are accessible without losing a sense of mystery.” –Excerpt from Tamara Madison’s foreword to The Congress of Luminous Bodies

California Burning by Luke Salazar

California Burning is Luke Salazar’s first book of poetry. The collection demonstrates the accessibility readers have come to expect from Long Beach (California) poetry, yet stands out in the mastery of meter and rhyme. Salazar’s unique view on life permeates the pages, making us laugh, hold our breath and sometimes cringe.

How to Say Goodbye by James Valvis

This is James Valvis’ first collection of poetry, though his poems have graced the pages of numerous anthologies, magazines and journals over the years. Paul Kareem Tayyar notes that in this substantial book, Valvis’ “poems somehow emerge as stubbornly optimistic, populated as they are by characters who, no matter how desperate their financial or their personal circumstances, refuse to let themselves become the victims that society seems to want them to be.”

Re)verb Issue 7

Perfect bound almost-annual poetry mag. Feature: James Valvis

Because I Said So: poems on the happiness and crappiness of parenthood

As you can tell by the title, this collection (from numerous writers) is about parenthood and parenting. Parenting isn’t always an easy task, at times frustrating at best, yet sometimes it’s pure bliss. This books covers the entire gamut. All net proceeds for the book will go to Operation Jump Start, “a community based organization dedicated to equipping disadvantaged youth with the skills and vision necessary to graduate from high school and go on to higher education in order to realize their potential through a college education.”

Follow the Sun by Paul Kareem Tayyar

“I can’t praise too much these works by Paul Tayyar. Reading him you are always aware of being in the presence of an electric, first-rate mind, a poet with a real voice – as if the author is there with you in person, guiding you through his sun-drenched world of bumper stickers and surfers, movie stars and sports heroes, making it all magical and, by seeing it through the humanity of its people, and the refraction of his love, making it real. The poet overwhelms resistance with his generosity of spirit, staggering energy, and above all with his charm – all the fantasy and sweetness still alive in him from childhood. If this book were put in a time capsule, the distant generation who dug it up could reconstruct from his poems what his corner of the planet was like in our era, and get to know a marvelously-talented poet.” — Ed Field

Re)verb Issue 6

Perfect bound almost-annual poetry mag. Feature: Paul Kareem Tayyar

The Dodger’s Retirement Party: A Novella of the Good Old Days by Gerald Locklin

“The Dodger’s Retirement Party: A Novella of the Good Old Days is Locklin, the People’s Writer, at his best. By turns witty, nostalgic, and honest, the intimacy and accessibility of Locklin’s voice is on full display here: using a reunion as a framing device to look back on the lives, loves and friendships of a group of graying friends, Locklin gives us a darker, more rugged and authentic, west-coast version of The Big Chill.” — Paul Tayyar

Re)verb Issue 5

Perfect bound almost-annual poetry mag. Feature: Zachary Locklin

Re)verb Issue 4

Perfect bound almost-annual poetry mag. Feature: Curtis Crisler

New Orleans, Chicago, and Points Elsewhere by Gerald Locklin

This book documents Locklin’s time in Chicago and The Art Institute, New Orleans (before the floods), and the treck back home to Long Beach, California. These highly cultural places are launching pads for Locklin’s poems. These poems are more than travel poems that document time and place, they dive deeper into the human experience, the meeting of new people, the awareness that happens when in an unfamiliar place, the exploration and discovery of a local culture that differs from the one you live in back home. They also delve into personal interactions with those closest to Locklin.

Re)verb Issue 3