poetry

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Pushcart Nomination

My publisher, Flutter Press, has been kind.  Flutter Press nominated me for a Pushcart Prize for my poem, “Eulogy for the Costa Rican Ghosts,” from my new collection of poems, Banshees:

http://flutterpress2009.blogspot.com/p/pushcart-nominees.html

The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses series, published annually, is one of the most honored literary projects in America. Since 1976, hundreds of presses and thousands of writers of short stories, poetry and essays have been represented in their annual collections. Each year most of the writers and many of the presses are new to the series. Every volume contains an index of past selections, plus lists of outstanding presses with addresses. Among poets who have won this prize are Wendell Berry, Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Donald Hall, Jane Hirshfield, Tony Hoagland, W.S. Merwin, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Robert Pinsky, James Tate, and William Carlos Williams, to name a few.

Here’s an excerpt from “Eulogy for the Costa Rican Ghosts.”

I feel their aching in the night air

their souls shaking in the tropical trees.

I remember their presence here

and bear them closer as time goes by…

my years stealing to inevitable death.

I am grateful for the nomination. Wish me luck with the competition!

pushcartprize1

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The Critics Have Been Kind

EK_Banshees_bookjacket_front_jhI had a few reviews of Banshees recently, and the critics have been kind. The Hampshire Gazette reviewed it today in Book Bag (Friday, Aug.7.)  If you have a copy, take a look:

“Amherst author Eileen Kennedy has written widely over the years…She also had a special love for poetry, publishing in many journals.  Her newest book, “Banshees,” features 19 of her poems, many of which explore the process of aging and death.”

–Steve Pfarrer

“Banshees contains the essence of many stories, and we fortunate readers are grateful for the experience.”

–Terry S. Johnson, author Coalescence

I am grateful for their generous words.