2013 Pulitzer Prize winners

Photo by frproart available through a Creative Commons license

The Pulitzer Prizes announced their winners for the year this week. Named for famed newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), the prizes go to examples of excellence in American writing. Below are the books that received the honor and comments from the judges.

History
Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
By Fredrik Logevall
959.7041 LOGEVALL
"A balanced, deeply researched history of how, as French colonial rule faltered, a succession of American leaders moved step by step down a road toward full-blown war."

Biography
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
by Tom Reiss
B DUMAS
"A compelling story of a forgotten swashbuckling hero of mixed race whose bold exploits were captured by his son, Alexander Dumas, in famous 19th century novels."

Poetry
Stag's Leap
by Sharon Olds
811.54 OLDS
"Unflinching poems on the author’s divorce that examine love, sorrow and the limits of self-knowledge."

Nonfiction
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
by Gilbert King
305.896 KING
"A richly detailed chronicle of racial injustice in the Florida town of Groveland in 1949, involving four black men falsely accused of rape and drawing a civil rights crusader, and eventual Supreme Court justice, into the legal battle.

Fiction
The Orphan Master's Son
By Adam Johnson
FIC JOHNSON and AD FIC JOHNSON
"An exquisitely crafted novel that carries the reader on an adventuresome journey into the depths of totalitarian North Korea and into the most intimate spaces of the human heart."

May you have a poetical April...

April is National Poetry Month, and the American Academy of Poets has some wonderfully fun suggestions for how you could celebrate. There is Poem in Your Pocket Day , you can subscribe to their Poem-a-Day newsletter to receive a daily poem in your email during the month of April, or you can celebrate by just tooling around on the Academy's website to find new and old poetry that you might like. Their website is extremely creative and fun -- be sure to take a look.

Another interesting poetry project out there is the Favorite Poem Project. This project, initiated by former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, includes a video archive of Americans reading their favorite poems. You can watch some of the videos on the Favorite Poem website.

Even the SF crowd is getting into National Poetry Month. The folks at Tor Publishing (a science fiction-fantasy publisher) are sponsoring a sci-fi/fantasy poetry series this month. They're going to have contributions by some biggies like Jane Yolen & Catherynne M. Valente, with a new poem added each week. Check out their blog by clicking here. Happy reading -- and maybe you'll even get inspired to start writing.

Voyager / by Srikanth Reddy

In one of the more creative concepts for a book ever (even poetry), author Srikanth Reddy explores the realms of material consciousness even as the object of his examination probes the physical boundaries of creation itself. In Voyager, the very concepts of life and matter are embodied, reawakened in a spiritual and figurative catharsis involving past transgressions, present distortions and a clever amalgamation of time and 'space'. The original source of his content, a print message and memoir authored by former U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, is currently (at this moment) traveling on an interplanetary journey out of Earth's solar system aboard the Voyager I satellite. The spacecraft, launched back in 1977, is now the furthest man-made object from Earth. The irony of the situation is that, post-1977, Waldheim was indicted and partially proven guilty of Nazi war crimes--as an SS Intelligence Officer, evidence showed he at least knew about certain intricate aspects of the Final Solution--and was party to further anti-Semitic political maneuverings during his tenure as the Austrian president. Reddy literally dissects, inter-cuts, rearranges and subliminally alters Waldheim's own words to reflect the paradoxical truth of an object intended to confront phenomenon beyond our terrestrial means, but which conceals crucial truths, explicit and otherwise, about our own world underneath its veneer.

Without knowing the context, it might be hard not to judge Reddy's carefully crafted, abstract exposition as too dense. The quirky alliteration ("Is is./The self is a suffering form./War is a failure of form") intro's the three part book in sparse, minimalistic fashion before the middle section segues into more direct territory ("This is the universal journey/the gravest proclaimed/in a universal language."). At times the narration overtly renders the author himself as the speaker, an individual with only a conceptual knowledge of his subject ("In my office a globe was set up/less a world than a history of imperialism and corruption"). Other portions speak in another voice, projections of a seemingly nebulous entity, which grasp out at the very substance of consciousness ("creation and fall,/I found fences/all laid down in blood.") Reddy, a literature professor at the University of Chicago, certainly has a gift for nuance and his range in wordplay is unquestionably superior. This is only his second published work of poetry. (811.6 REDDY)

Shannon: a poem of the Lewis and Clark Expedition by Campbell McGrath

The award-winning poet Campbell McGrath writes about modern America. This narrative poem is about America, too, but a much older country, the America of 1805. Meriwether Lewis was chosen by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the newly acquired “Louisiana Territory”, 800,000 square miles of land starting in what is today northern Texas and extending north up to Canada. Lewis in turn chose William Clark to go with him and help lead their “Corps of Discovery”, a band of 27 U.S. soldiers.

From the journal kept by William Clark,we learn that one of their party, a George Shannon, was sent to recover two horses and did not rejoin the party for 16 days. The poem is Shannon’s thoughts and reflections during that time, as imagined by McGrath in the style of a journal.

Before the poem and after it, McGrath inserts the (real) journal entries of Clark that tell of Shannon’s disappearance. The entries are very businesslike in tone, with the information about Shannon appearing along with other topics, such as their communication with Indians, and the characteristics of the land – its minerals, plants, and animals. These facts betray no emotion and their style seem to discourage reflection, so they provide a contrast to how lifelike Shannon’s voice is, when we first hear it.

Shannon speaks as one from his time would speak, with measured phrases and a lack of contractions such as run over in our present day speech. He was an educated man, and the youngest of the Corps, about 17 years of age. The poem is deceptively simple, as Shannon finds the horses, starts to drive them back to the party, only to find day after day passing without sight of them, and finally losing all sign of their passage before him.

He was lost in present day Nebraska, journeying on the banks of the Missouri River. His words give us the beauty of the place, the wildness and the stark loneliness he experiences as his situation becomes more perilous. First leaving his companions in haste, he neglected to carry more bullets or provisions, and he nearly starves to death. McGrath gives us a full picture of this young man’s life, through his thoughts and recollections, and we experience with Shannon this wonderment of a world so vast, so open – so grand and yet impervious to us and to our plight.

Human Nature: Poems / by Gary Soto

Fresno, California native Gary Soto has said that he was never a good student growing up, in part because following the death of his father, he, his mother and siblings all had to work full time at a variety of jobs to make ends meet. Nevertheless his interest in literature prompted his interest in writing and eventual college degrees from Fresno St. and UC-Irvine. Since the mid-seventies, he's published numerous prose and poetry collections like The Tale of Sunlight (1978) for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. His additional work has included stories for youth and children including the much heralded Baseball In April (J FIC SOTO). His 1985 memoir Living Up The Street won an American Book Award. He's also held faculty positions at various California institutions, UC-Berkeley and Cal St.-Fullerton to name a couple, over the years as a visiting professor of literature. Within his latest poetry collection, Human Nature: Poems, Soto represents himself well.
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"I'm fifty something,

Myopic. What I think is a flower

On a bush and a sign of natural life,

What I think is worth a closer look . . .

Is a condom, an ugly swagging thing."

--from "Human Nature"

"I'm in love with a girl in the third row,

And if I can't get her,

Then I can turn my head thirty degrees

To another in the fifth row.

this is the math that matters,

A subtraction of rows, a narrowing down

To the equation of who might love you

This breezy fall."

--from "Algebra"

"Later, at the Rose Garden,

A youngish man comes up, snaps his fingers,

And says excitedly, 'I had your class. You're professor. . .

Professor. . . What was the class?

It was so good. . .'
. . .

'Oh, yes, that class, it was . . .'

Both of us snapping fingers,

Both of us without remembered names."

--from "The Way It Is"

Soto is one of those writers who just seems to get it, and who, consequently, gets the reader to 'get it'. His phrases, descriptions and economy of words all just seem to engender life, any life, all life with uncanny familiarity. To Soto's credit, nothing is very elaborate about his writing. There are no flowery descriptions or overly obtuse metaphors to deal with. He's almost always upfront about where his consciousness lies and though his willowy style emotes very little, you always get a sense of where he stands. The world of his youth, of memory, the world which bemuses him, the steady pattern of the mundane and the subtle clarity of routine are all intertwined in a voice which is never quick to judge or react but generally accepts the world in quiet acknowledgement. A Mexican-American whose work is concentrated but not restricted to hispanic themes, Soto has said that his objectives have never been socio-political. He merely strives to provide portraits of people in the rush of life. He does it very well. (811.54 SOTO)

New Poetry

The Continual Condition / by Charles Bukowski; edited by John Martin
An American cult hero, Charles Bukowski was not only a well-known poet, but a highly sought after intellectual and contemporary scholar. Deceased since 1994, this collection of previously unpublished poems reveals the irreplaceable verboseness and quirky humor of this literary icon.
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Incident Light: Poems / by H.L. Hix
Poet and scholar Hix’s eighth volume of poems is as inventive as any of his previous works. Hix tells the biography of German sculpter Petra Soesmann in verse, using a clever pentameter form to convey the artist’s unique life and impact.
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Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems About Love / by Pat Mora
In this personalized rendition of love in the teen years, Mora’s poetry is conveyed through teen narrators, each sharing their thoughts, feelings and convictions about the phenomenon they’ve just come to know.
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Partly Cloudy: Poems of Love and Longing / by Gary Soto
Well-known YA fiction author Soto presents a collection poems written from the teenage perspective, each poem sharing things like emotions leading to a first kiss, first broken heart and lessons learned.
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The Dance of No Hard Feelings / by Mark Bibbins
A scathing assessment of bureaucracies trying to gloss over glaring errors with rudimentary words, Bibbins’ poetry is an embittered take on life in America during the George W. Bush administration, lines like “wrong decisions are harder to make than most people realize” accurately describing the overall mood and concept of the writer’s objective.
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77 Love Sonnets / by Garrison Keillor
Prominent radio personality and one of America’s premier storytellers, Keillor’s one-of-a-kind humor, irony and appeal are present in this, his first ever collection of “love” poems. Keillor writes like he talks, and readers will appreciate (and laugh) at his pleasant, quaintly comforting style of exposition.

Poetry In Motion: New Poetry Books for National Poetry Month

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Hallelujah Blackout / by Alex Lemon
"The happy-chopping music of night joggers

& the drinking fountains filled with horse flies,

Yellow jackets burping up from the mud

& buzzard bait puddling the paths,

Again & Again it purrs through this fallen den"

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A poet and fellow with the National Endowment for the Arts, Alex Lemon published his first book of poems, Mosquito, while undergoing a multi-year recovery from brain surgery. Described by critics as "poems [that] pull the reader into a world of familiarities where they confront daily experiences in totally surprising ways", Lemon's poetry is by turns subtle, eloquent and transcendental while also managing to uniquely ascertain aspects of the human condition. Hallelujah Blackout is another splendid collection of poetry resonating with the reader long after the final line.

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Ballistics / by Billy Collins

"All I do these drawn-out days
is sit in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge
where there are no pheasants to be seen
and, last time I looked, no ridge."
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A two-time poet laureate, Billy Collins' poems are recognizable for their clear, simplistic approach to themes of life, death, love, sadness and joy. Written in very easy to understand language and dotted with humor, candor, versatility and insight, this new collection, Ballistics, is a fine example of the charm that has made Collins a choice selection among poetry lovers, poetry haters and everyone in between.

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Warhorses / by Yusef Komunyakaa

"I did what I did. To see

friends turn into ghosts

among the reeds, to do

deeds that packed the heart

with brine & saltpeter

was to sing like a bone for dust."

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Pulitzer prize-winning free verse poet Yusef Komunyakaa has long been a favorite among serious readers of American poetry who've been drawn to his eclectic blend of perceptive intuition, imaginative style and emotional intensity. A Vietnam veteran and deep south native, Komunyakaa's latest compilation, Warhorses, explores the nature of war, enmity, violence and destruction in an intriguing and challenging assortment of lyrical artistry.

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John Betjeman: Collected Poems / w/ an Introduction by Andrew Motion

"Come friendly bombs, and fall on Slough

It isn't fit for humans now,

There isn't grass to graze a cow

Swarm over, Death!"

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Beknighted English poet John Betjeman is the quintissential example of dry wit at its best. A barde of extraordinary talent, range and intuition, his words simply mosy along in a manner seemingly absent of ambition and yet manifest the most incisive observations, touching on various everyday scenes like women drivers, drugstores, night clubs and dismal weather with sublime clarity and nuance. Among his many unanimous favorites are "Before Invasion, 1940", "Shattered Image", "Interior Decorator" and "The Retired Postal Clerk".

Regeneration / by Pat Barker

Pat Barker's award-winning Regeneration is the first book in a trilogy of historical novels set during World War I. Actual events and people from history constitute the story's subject with Barker imagining hypothetical sequences using real patients interned at Craiglockhart Hospital, Scotland.


"Good Morning, good-morning!" the General said,
When we met him last week on our way to the line.
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of 'em dead,
And we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine.
-- from "The General" (1917) by Siegfried Sassoon

Real-life poet Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) served as an infantry officer during the first World War. A good soldier but rigid pacifist, his written anti-war declaration inadvertently earned him a "shell-shocked" diagnosis by a sympathetic Dr. W.H. Rivers. The end result was Sassoon's admittance to a mental hospital (an alternative to court-martial) alongside other patients suffering severe mind and nerve damage. The novel begins with Sassoon trying to justify his idealism and Rivers employing various modes of treatment to rehabilitate his other highly traumatized patients. Among the ailing is Lieutenant Prior, a man made mute by combat, Captain Burns, who's been unable to eat after a corpse exploded over him, and Wilfred Owen, another (real-life) poet and contemporary of Sassoon's.

A "war" novel, Regeneration is more of a behind the scenes viewpoint. Nonetheless, Barker still relies heavily on factual events to tell the story, re-imagining situations and characters at a personal level. Even with Sassoon and Rivers at the forefront, the narrative jumps around in a more or less scattered fashion, emphasizing minor characters (some fictional, some real) with as much weight as the two protagonists. It's this enhanced intimacy which, despite the real vs. not-real contrast, ultimately illuminates the book's intentions: the re-creation of a wartime atmosphere through emotions rather than action.