*Our commitment to poetry stems from our conviction that the insights received from the symbolic messages of poetry are a potent precursor to change in the world.

Poetry Anthologies

Another Desert 
Jewish Poetry of New Mexico
edited by Joan Logghe and Miriam Sagan

ISBN 0-9644196-9-6, Tradepaper, 
$15.00

This collection blends the history, celebrations, and reconciliation of ancient Jewish traditions with life in New Mexico. The circle of the Jewish year is saturated by the New Mexico experience as tashlich is performed in a precious desert river, and Passover coincides with Good Friday pilgrims making a holy journey to the Santuario de Chimayo. At root these are poems of faith—in the beauty of the desert, in the survival of tradition and memory, and ultimately in the ability of language to contain and express experience. 

Includes work by Marjorie Agosin, Robin Becker, Yehudis Fishman, Gene Frumkin, Natalie Goldberg, Judyth Hill, Joan Logghe, Consuelo Luz, Carol Moldow, Judith Rafaela, Miriam Sagan, Foreword by Stan Hordes, notes that the book is “moving and profound... an integral part of our Jewish heritage."

Read other poems from the book for Hanukkah.

The cover art includes two images from celebrated artist Diana Bryer. 
order the book here

Miriam's Daughters
Jewish Latin American Women Poets 
edited by Marjorie Agosín

ISBN 1-890932-13-2, Tradepaper, 
$15.00

This ground-breaking bilingual collection of work from a distinguished group of poets explores the rich mosaic of Jewish identity immersed in Latin American culture. Miriam’s Daughters raises questions about the impact of the Diaspora and the experience of post-Holocaust generations. Divided by theme the collection consists of four sections: Genealogies, Illuminations, The Texture of Memory, and Jerusalem.

Miriam’s Daughters gathers together such important literary figures as Ruth Behar, Cuba; Manuela Fingeret, Argentina; Angelina Muniz-Huberman, Mexico; Teresa Porczansky, Uraguay; Rosita Kalina, Costa Rica; Matilde Salgoniall and Alejandra Pizarnik, Argentina; Marta Kornblinth, Peru; and many others.

These poems blaze through lineage, heartbreak, geography and history, always affirming the power of language and life itself. They make me long for more. —Katie Singer, author of The Wholeness of a Broken Heart

Drink from the sweet waters of Miriam’s well—contributing Latina daughters, in proper corazon, sing to and savor the sacred reservoir that belongs to Miriam. —Dr. Isabelle Medina Sandoval, Anousi Poet and Professor

The Practice of Peace 
edited by Judith Rafaela and Nancy Fay

ISBN 0-9644196-7-X, 208 pages, trade paper
$15.00

Extraordinary collection of poetry on peace as more than antiwar. What is peace and how do we get it? How do we sustain those moments of peace? 91 poets including Naomi Shihab Nye, Judy Chicago, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Joy Harjo, Margaret Randall, Ruth Stone, Gary Lawless and Arthur Sze bring us a diverse and intimate look.

order the book here
 
 

Written with a Spoon,
A Poet's Cookbook 
edited by Nancy Fay and Judith Rafaela

ISBN 1-890932-22-1 Paper, 200 pages, $12.95

A treat for poets, cooks, and cookbook collectors, this eclectic collection is fiiled with peotry of substance and sweetness, meals of metaphor and meaning, and a sprinkling of fresh haiku between courses.

Over seventy recipes are paired with related poems weaving into the ingredient list a touch of romance and a spoonful of laughter.

Great poetry does for me what it's supposed to-evokes and recreates the powerful emotions that inspired the poet in the first place. But who would have thought that fine poetry could come from the kitchen? that cilantro could call forth the Muse? Reading this book is a sensual experience of the hightest order.
-The Fresno Bee

Poetry lovers who enjoy cooking will like this one. A good read.-- The Cookbook Collector

Order more than one--this is a great hostess gift!

order the book here
 
 

Great Gift for Guys

XY Files: Poems on the Male Experience
edited by Judith Rafaela and Nancy Fay

ISBN 0-9644196-6-1 Paper, 224 pages, $15.00

The title reflects the biological marker of maleness, the "XY" chromosome. This poetic documentary, 170 poems, celebrates the complex lives of men at the end of the twentieth century. The poets, male and female, young and old, straight, gay, adopted personas, and ethnically diverse have written about masculine myths, mysteries, and every day life with honesty and tenderness.

The 224 page book is organized into files representing facets of the male experience: work, love, fathers and sons, outdoor life, the body, risk taking, archetypes, elegies and what men talk about.

The editors note that the book is dedicated to the men in their lives who

"challenged us, cherished us, infuriated us and been our allies."

 

What the critics are saying:

"If, to paraphrase Socrates, the unexamined life is not worth living, what he should have added is that the examined life is tremendously exciting, enriching, and great fun.

In the XY Files are poems of life, indeed, for anyone who has ever loved, hated , or been a man. 

Here are almost two-hundred poems full of the music of male-ness, of multitudes of voices concerned with the growing and changing lives of men, and the women who can also speak to the male experience of our century"

David Keller, poet, author of Land That Wasn't Ours

"As I read theses moving poems, I found my self coming face to face with myself and other men I know. This is truly a book for Everyman (and for anyone who wants a peek at what makes him tick)"

Paul Janeczko, poet, co-editor with Naomi Shihab Nye of I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You (Her Poems and His Poems Collected in Pairs)
 

order the book here