A review from the founder of Poesy Magazine of Doug Holder's "From the Paris of New England..."

From the Paris
of New England;
Interviews with Poets and Writers
by doug holder
$18.50 © 2008 € Ibbetson Street Press € 25 School Street € Somerville, MA
02143
http://lulu.com/ibbetsonpress to order


a review by brian morrisey

Paris once reveled in the elegance and artistry. It prided itself as a
tight-knit community of poets and writers. Poetry today is thriving off electronic media via emails, facebook, twitter, etc. Websites have removed the face from all social interactions. It is imperative we continue, as artists, looking directly into eyes behind the writer to deepen the impact of communication. I sometimes mock my insinuations that soon open mike poetry will be obsolete. I wait for the rise of online open mikes. ­ How boring! However, in From the Paris of New England..., Doug Holder, a man who eats, breathes and lives poetry, has face time with 29 poets accessible to the thriving Boston literary milieu of intriguing writers.

As Richard Cambridge (Curator of the Poet¹s Theatre ­ Club Passim)
notes on the back cover in his blurb, "Ginsberg considered the interview an art form in the true st sense ­ bringing out the best of the artist," which
sums up why this book is of important relevance during a time when economic pressures are the artists¹ major obstacle of survival and an over-whelming block of the creative aura.


I know reviewing POESY¹s Boston editor might seem a bit self-gloating,
but the truth is, I never intended to review it until I finished the book
and realized the height of importance this collection really has in relation
to the continuance of the value American Poetry has in our society. We could have reviewed another self-indulging poet¹s latest musings, but Holder¹s interviews are proof that New England poetry is actively still the homestead of some of America¹s finest poets.


I ordered this collection off the famed Lulu.com website (known for
their accessibility for small press publisher¹s open to runs of quantities
anywhere from 1-100,000). A few eye-catching details convincing enough to order this book were:

1.) An introduction by the legendary small press historian himself, Michael Basinski, who is Curator of the Poetry Collection at the University at Buffalo, the largest small press archive in the country. 2).Interviews with Ed Sanders, Robert Creeley, Louisa Solano, Hugh Fox, and Steve Almond.