A sense of wonder at existence
Glyphs
Martina Reisz Newberry, Poetry
6 x 9 paperback; 104 pages
ISBN: 978-1-7368477-6-3; $18.75
Publication date May 10
available for prepublication orders
Endorsed by Suzanne Lummis
One delightful feature of this collection is that Martina Reisz Newberry can sing to the wind, the sea and the stars then turn around and write a tribute as strikingly specific and sharply observed as "Small Spring on the Property," which tells the tale of "Hazel," who resided in "a trailer in Bentonia, Mississippi/on an acre of land owned by a great-uncle..." where she hid "...from her ex/who threatened to kill her if he ever found her/for taking their big screen t.v. with her/when she left him for the last time,/while he showered."
Whether shadowed by doubt or traced with a feminist sense of injustice, whether wistful or exultant or humorous, however various the subject matter, the poems of Glyphs have this in common: a sense of wonder at existence and Martina Reisz Newberry's generous and forgiving passion for life.
—Suzanne Lummis lives in Los Angeles where she is the director of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival. An award-winning teacher with UCLA Extension, her most recent book is 24 Hours.
Endorsed by Terry Wolverton
What pulses in us? asks poet Martina Reisz Newberry in her collection, Glyphs. With a sensibility reminiscent of Nobel Prize winner Wisława Szymborska, Newberry employs a deceptively conversational tone to wield resonant insights about the spirit of nature, faith, aging and mortality, and love. She continually surprises with imagery, juxtaposition, and personification, as in “A Bargain of Earthly Delights”: Boats on dark water…seem to me like beings without a future.
— Terry Wolverton, author of Ruin Porn. An Affiliate Faculty in the MFA Writing Program at Antioch University, Los Angeles.
Endorsed by Rick Lupert
Reading these poems is like walking through a city’s neighborhoods … each neighborhood with its own characteristics. You’re on the same walk and you can see the connection as you turn a corner from one poem /page /street to the next, even though the one you’ve ended up on tells a different story, and smells and sounds different.
Martina presents her elevation over this world in a way that resonates with any artist’s filter …or to the common-person who hasn’t yet discovered their inner muse. These poems shine a light for them, and all of us, into realms we are glad to have revealed.
—Rick Lupert, author of God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion, and The Tokyo-Van Nuys Express