I picked up Erik La Prade’s book, "Ancient Light," at Last Word Books this weekend. Last Word Press is the publishing arm of Last Word Books. They publish poetry, forgotten classic and works that inspire community building, social questions.
La Prade is an American freelance journalist, poet, photographer and nonfiction writer. He was born and is still based in New York City.
He received his Bachelor of Arts in English in 1978 and his Master of Arts in Comparative Literature in 1990 from City College of New York.
Last Word Press published "Ancient Light" in 2023, and will be publishing his new work, Search for Survivors at the end of February. An upcoming Chapbook will also come out in May this year.
La Prade’s poetry is direct, humorous and a great book to read if you’ve never tried poetry before. Amid poems for poets and ancient voices that mattered to him are poems about watching Monday Night Football with his father, visits to his family home and carrying his uncle’s ashes home.
Light in all its forms is scattered throughout the work, carrying the theme forward in a gentle but powerful way.
The poem "Memory Mapping" for me seems to gather up all these strands in these lines:
"I save objects for one good reason:/So part of my/history doesn’t decay. We all look for ways to connect with the past, to be remembered and seen when we are gone. We want to know our lives mattered, that the light we brought to this world still shines somewhere."
I also picked up a new edition of "Making Sense of Olympia" by David Scherer Water, with new sections and topics. I reviewed this book last year and found it delightful, opinionated, informative and well worth the read. For anyone new to the area, it’s a must read!
Enjoy the snowy weather! By that, I mean curl up with a comfy blanket, a good read and some hot chocolate. Maybe a cat.
Amy Lewis focuses her column on the literary world of Thurston County, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types. Contact her — amy@thejoltnews.com — if you have a literary event, book, or reading.
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MichaelWilson
Thanks, Amy! You've got a nice smile and a familiar face. I read your last review, too, and was recently remembering that I wanted to pick up a copy of Making Sense of Olympia and visit Last Word Books, but i couldn't remember either the title or the name of the bookstore. So, this review was just what I wanted.
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