Dan Smith will be reading at Arcadia Books, Spring Green, Wisconsin, Sunday August 22, 2021 | 3:00PM – 4:00PM. Prior to the event, James Bohnen of Arcadia spoke with Smith about Ancestral and Smith’s writing process.
You can buy your copy of Ancestral from us prior to the event or in the store on the day.
by Barry Adams, Wisconsin State Journal
| Daniel Smith is featured in the Sunday, July 18, 2021 edition of the Wisconsin State Journal. Barry Adams interviewed Smith at his home near Arena, Wisconsin. In Ancestral, from Water’s Edge Press, Smith draws on his decades of farming and his experiences as a farm financial counselor in Wisconsin. Many of the poems express the anguish people feel when they realize they can no longer sustain the family farm. Yet Smith’s poetry goes beyond such stories and reveals his deep and enduring connection to the land. From the article: “It bothers me a lot,” Smith said. “The economic,social and cultural impacts of farming are very complex. I think going through all of that and having experienced the emotional turbulence of that really helped me write about it and writing helped me deal with it.” |
Read the article and listen to Dan read “Dry Dirt,” a poem from Ancestral. [Permalink] |
Ed Werstein is a guest on Dan Denton’s podcast “The Blue Collar Gospel Hour.” Take a listen. You can order Ed’s book, Communique: Poems From The Headlines, in our shop.
Georgia Ressmeyer, author of the forthcoming book of poetry, Leading A Life, was a guest on Mental Health America’s Pink Chair Sessions, a place for community conversations in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Many of the poems in Ressmeyer’s book come from her experience as a public defender, where she often represented people with mental illness.
The following review of Leading a Life comes from Julie L. Preder~Executive Director, Mental Health America Sheboygan County
“Georgia Ressmeyer takes us on a journey from the courtroom to a woman reflecting through the looking glass. Each poem provides historical memories with profound emotion. Her lyrics set the stage for owning our story and bringing forth inner peace. Ressmeyer demonstrates through words that compassion, empathy, and transparency can set us free.”
Watch the video:
Leading a Life is now available for pre-order. Publication date: September 2021.
The current issue of Portage Magazine includes two reviews of Karl Elder’s books, most notably for us, the one we published, Alpha Images. Check it out: Alpha Images: Poems Selected and New by Karl Elder; reviewed by Fred Kreutz
In celebration of National Poetry Month, Arcadia Books (Spring Green, WI) hosted Daniel and Austin Smith for a conversation about poetry, the influence of writers like Tobias Wolff, Lucien Stryk, Michael Mott, and Gary Snyder, and how growing up in a community of writers shaped them both. Daniel and Austin both share selections of their work.
Consider this video to be a free course in how to read, craft, and appreciate poetry from two fine American poets who happen to be father and son. The two discuss origins of their poems, their interdependent growth as writers, the impact of place in their writing, and how effective it is to blend genres.
Ancestral by Daniel Smith is the newest book from Water’s Edge Press, due out June 1. We agree with Austin’s assessment that his father’s book “Conveys emotion via the physical world.” Rooted in a Midwestern landscape, Ancestral’s sense of place is never “claustrophobic,”
Austin says, adding that the poems “remind [him] of the poets [he loves], like Ted Kooser, who writes so beautifully about Nebraska. There’s a universality to the poems despite their placedness.”
Enjoy the video and pre-order Ancestral. Austin’s books are available here.
We’re happy to announce that Water’s Edge Press nominated work from these three outstanding writers for a Pushcart Prize. Congratulations to Kathryn Gahl (The Velocity of Love), Jeff Elzinga (The Distance Between Stars), and Karl Elder (Alpha Images).
Observing Covid-19 safety, Jeff Elzinga met with interested readers at Literatus & Co. yesterday and personally inscribed copies of The Distance Between Stars. If you missed this event, you can still buy copies at the store. And, of course, you can always order from us. Use coupon code HAPPY until December 14 to save 10% on your order from Water’s Edge Press on Jeff’s book (and all of our books).
When we agreed to publish Kathryn Gahl’s poetic memoir, The Velocity of Love, we knew Gahl was an exceptional writer. With her recent dual awards–poetry and fiction–from Door County Pulse, the coveted Hal Prize, we’re even more proud of our partnership.
You can read her winning fiction and poetry online.
The Velocity of Love is available now. We hope you’ll order from us, but the book is available to order wherever books are sold. Libraries are also beginning to shelve this book, but if yours has not, we hope you will ask them to do so.
Jeff Elzinga’s novel The Distance Between Stars was featured on the website for Columbia University School of the Arts on September 17, 2020 in an article by Nicole Saldarriaga. Elzinga is an 1978 alum of the university.
We’re happy to see news of Jeff’s excellent novel reaching a wider audience.
Ancestral
$25.00
A Hollow Bone
$16.00
Lamenting My Failure to Learn How to Tap Dance: And Other Missteps
$18.00
Something Novel Came In Spring
$15.00
Poems from the Winter House
$25.00
