Böcker av David Radavich

At its heart, David Radavich's Here's Plenty evokes the AmericanSouth-in all its messy, charming, baffling glory.

In this richly polyphonic text, Radavich couples narrative verse with interlocking dramatic monologues to deliver a revisionist history of America since the second World War - an account across generations so inclusive as to seem Whitmanesque - encompassing personal and national identities, conscience and community. 'I hear the voices of America,' writes Radavich, and through them America Bound renders a cultural landscape altered in the wake of the Twentieth Century. By 'listening to the voices of those who lived simply for themselves and others in the heartland of their history,' voices aching to be heard, we sense how their stories are also ours, and their questions - 'Where do we all go from here?' - the ones we must live by. Christian Knoeller, poet, author of Completing the Circle American Bound rests firmly in a tradition of dramatic lives rendered through poetry, especially Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. David Radavich paints lovely portraits that fill an American town with rich and moving lives. Patricia Clark, poet, author of My Father on a Bicycle This is poetry that matters. Radavich has a dramatist's gift of being able to evoke character with only a few words from a speaker's mouth: these are poems that come from the tongue, and like intimate, personal speech, invite us to speak back. Though the speakers reflect social movements and economic booms and busts, they are never abstractions or simply victims, but people telling their stories of gains and losses in ways that invite compassion, respect, and fellow feeling. This book makes me hopeful for the future of American poetics as part of our political discourse, as part of a common life that binds our diverse interests. If more poets had Radavich's ambition - to write for a broad audience, instead of only a few; to write about the world we live in and what we owe to others - then we would see people everywhere with poems in their pockets and in their briefcases. Leonora Smith, poet, author of Spacial Relations In praise of By the Way, by David Radavich: David Radavich demonstrates how he has found the perfect poetic technique for the expression of his unfailingly interesting take on life. This is splendidly controlled free verse which takes the reader into fascinating alleyways that resolve themselves into neatly, though never glibly, turned conclusions. There are many 'Yes, yes, that's exactly how it is' poems . . . . Adrian Buckner, Orbis, Summer 1998

Reading David Radavich's poems transported me to the Orient, to its "e;dry and teeming sands"e; and feasts of "e;dates and skewered meats."e; He dedicates Middle-East Mezze to "e;those who suffered and who dream"e; and does not shy away from the woe of the region. He captures the dignity and suffering of the Palestinian and Iraqi peoples. . . . Radavich's poems drew me in with their easy-going, conversational tone. In this collection, every poem is alive with energy and drama. Jean Grant, author of The Burning Veil: A Novel of Arabia Middle-East Mezze is a sumptuous buffet of lyricism and imagery. Radavich takes us to Iraq, Palestine and Egypt and, during our journey, forces us to question how such rich ancient cultures could have fallen into such desperation. A poignant reminder of splendid heritage, these poems foreground the tragedy of war and injustice while at the same time delighting us with the wonderfully ornate complexities that make up the Middle East Mike Maggio, author of deMOCKracy Middle-East Mezze is a book of rare vision and ambition, given its sweeping geographical and historical scope. These poignant poems are finely honed, distilled to the essential. The progression of individual pieces, each complete in itself, seems inevitable, reflecting a keen sensitivity shaping the book as a whole. This collection positively bristles with arresting and unforgettable images, whether evoking the swirl of a bazaar in Egypt, descending ancient catacombs, or making the desolation of an arid landscape palpable. Ultimately, the work offers an unflinching act of witness-of conscience-breaking the silence about the tragic human toll of modern military conflict. Christian Knoeller, author of Completing the Circle