Athanata Arts

Poetic Amusement - Reviewed

American Book Review has just published a glowing review of Ray Hammond's Poetic Amusement. I've been mentioning Ray's work in this book, especially his theory of the Muse, for years. Read what reviewer Daniel Leary has to say in the online version at Project Muse.

Hersam Acorn features Ira

Hersam Acorn newspapers feature an article by Gerri Lewis on Ira Joe Fisher and Some Holy Weight in the Village Air:

Arts & Leisure

ForeWord review link

ForeWord Clarion has just posted Brian Douthit's July 17th rave review of Some Holy Weight to their website.  Read the review at ForeWord Clarion.

UCONN notes Some Holy Weight

University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts & Sciences notes faculty member Ira Joe Fisher's book:  Some Holy Weight in the Village Air.

Some Holy Weight selected Book of the Month by CT Poet

Some Holy Weight in the Village Air is the July 2006 selection for the Book of the Month by The CT Poet, which highlights a book by a Connecticut author each month.

ForeWord Clarion review of Some Holy Weight

ForeWord Clarion reviews Some Holy Weight in the Village Air. We're waiting for it to be posted on the ForeWord site, so here is the full review:

Where is the village in the valley where astounding beauty can be witnessed in  "Day, poplar, and grass burst blossoming" but could also be the home of a boy whose haunting dreams stir him from sleep: "He listens, between heart beats; He listens, too paralyzed to pray"?  Perhaps it is the village of Annville, not far from route seventeen, with its Fair Oaks Street, Thompson Avenue, and the Milks Hotel just down the street from the Methodist Church.   Fisher paints for the reader a much larger view of humanity in his poetry book, and therefore this village could be almost anywhere.   Readers will be able to identify with Fisher's reminiscent views of how lives can often be contrasted between sheer splendor and bitter disenchantment.

Fisher currently teaches poetry at the University of Connecticut at Stamford and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from New England College.  The poems in Some Holy Weight in the Village Air reveal that he is indeed one of today's most gifted and talented poets.  He has a rare ability to piece together words into poems that are both readable and eloquent, as in the poem "At the Height of Their Mischief.” He writes:  “Starlings mobbed the sky / and looked like laughter. / They flew too fast to follow; / it was good to watch from below / as they burst above the day.”

Occasionally there is brilliant humor intermingled between the poems about the melting mists, angry alcoholic fathers, tall pines and autumn maples.  Poems such as "Forget It" might pleasantly remind the reader of friends or family members who share less than memorable histories.  "Mystery" is entertaining verse about Minestrone soup, the self-explanatory title of "Age" is humorous as well, depending upon your perspective.  These amusing poems add a great deal of delightful balance in what is otherwise a thoroughly thought-provoking collection.

Some Holy Weight in the Village Air will appeal to any boy who has ever prowled a creek, and any girl who has ever learned every word to a song.  It will capture the attention of anyone interested in reading beautiful and technically magnificent poetry, as well as those who enjoy deep and stimulating meaning.  The contrasting images  Fisher paints for us can be seen almost anywhere.  Perhaps outside our own windows rests the small village of Annville, no matter where we live.

Brian Douthit
Five Stars  (of 5)

Kirkus Discoveries review for Some Holy Weight

Kirkus reviews Ira's Some Holy Weight in the Village Air:

. . . With careful attention to meter and reverence for the natural world, Fisher will remind readers of Robert Frost, as he highlights village eccentricities and the bland inevitability of life, as well as the beauty of trees, wind and other seasonal phenomena. While most of the poems depict tender scenes, the more captivating selections focus on not necessarily momentous but still intimate moments between individuals . . .

Thoughtful and hushed imagistic works.

--Read the full review at Kirkus Discoveries.