Second Tuesday Reading: Beratlis, Wickes, and Robertson

Join us for cake and poetry as we celebrate the release of three new Sixteen Rivers Press collections: Alkali Sink by Stella Beratlis, World as We Left It by Helen Wickes, and The Orbit of Known Objects by Lisa Erin Robertson.

“Stella Beratlis writes unforgettable poems that stir inside you long after you’ve finished reading them. Alkali Sink is simultaneously domestic and wild, urban and rural, full of surprises and wisdom. Your axis may shift after reading this remarkable book. Beratlis is a fierce talent whose beautiful mind encompasses the land, the open road, the kitchen window, and the heart’s inconstancies. Her first full-length collection is one of the best debuts I have read.”   —Lee Herrick, author of Gardening Secrets of the Dead

“Such good poems in Helen Wickes’ new collection, poems about memory and loss that skillfully combine the startling poetic image (“off we’d go // into the cold air’s bright teeth”) and exuberant colloquial language (“everyone knows I don’t like dogs—/ the smell, the noise, and the drool”). At the heart of World as You Left It are the poems centering on the poet’s late father — both hilarious (as in “Loot,” about his old address book with its delicious list of big blonds and “sweet patooties”) and mysterious, as touching as they are enlivening.”
-Lloyd Schwartz

“In The Orbit of Known Objects, Lisa Erin Robertson explores memory and history, especially through the eyes of women and family. She is a poet intimate with loss and regret, as well as persistence and resolve. She knows, as another writer from the South put it, that “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” In the universe of her poems, buried moments cast off their dirt and rise again for the consideration of her readers. Robertson is a poet of exquisite sensibilities, with a generous heart and an eye for the sadness and beauty of our brief, mysterious lives.”
—Edward Falco

Event starts at 6:30 pm (please note slight time change!) with featured readers and concludes with open mic. Please join us to help celebrate the publication of these collections, and feel free to download and share the FLYER!