An outstanding collection of poetry about inventions and inventors, real and imagined, assembled by editor and poet, Bernadette Geyer, author of The Scabbard of Her Throat and a chapbook, What Remains. "I was awed by the seemingly endless number of ways that poets approached the subject. Naturally, there are poems about real inventions-from clocks to pantyhose to chemotherapy drugs-as well as poems that conjure fantastical inventions-such as a contraption for kissing and a happy marriage machine. While some of the poems in this anthology provide searing commentary on the dreadfulness of some of the creations birthed by inventors, other poems offer us a view into the stories behind inventions, as well as the lives of real and imagined inventors. Whether invoking humor, irony, historic research, or imagination, the poems in this anthology converse not only with each other, but also with their readers and the world at large, in service to the continued human drive to create solutions-even to problems we didn't know we had." - Bernadette Geyer Poems by Alex Dreppec, Brett Foster, Clare Louise Harmon, Daniel Hales, David Mook, Donald Illich, Dorene O'Brien, F. J. Bergmann, FJP Langheim, Gwen Hart, H.M. Jones, Holly Karapetkova, J.G. McClure, Janet McNally, Jean Bonin, Jerry Bradley, Jesseca Cornelson, Jessica Goodfellow, Jo Angela Edwins, Joel Allegretti, Julie E. Bloemeke, Karen Bovenmyer, Karen Skolfield, Kathryn Rickel, Keith Stevenson, Kelly Cherry, Kim Roberts, Kirsten Imani Kasai, Kristine Ong Muslim, Laura Shovan, Magus Magnus, Malka Older, Marcela Sulak, Marjorie Maddox, Mia Leonin, Nolan Liebert, Norbert Gora, Rie Sheridan Rose, Rikki Santer, Robert Kenny, Sarah Key, Scott Beal, Shelley Puhak, Steven Wingate, Susan Bucci Mockler, Tanis MacDonald, Tanya Bryan, Tricia Asklar, W. Luther Jett, William Minor, and William Winfield Wright

"In 'Europa/Nippon/New York, ' Joel Allegretti reminds us that history tells the story of cultures, not just the story of political conflict, and that history itself, though not-poem, re-posits all the stuff - the cathedrals and gargoyles, the rubble and voices from the rubble, the traditions and innovators - that make poetry possible. Humming and shimmering through time, all that stuff waits patiently for the right collector to come along and provide the right vision to bring it into a particularly poignant focus. And look: Here he is." -- Brian Clements, Founding Editor, "Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics"; "Everything instructs, engages, and delights us through the wide-angle lens of this wonderful new collection where 'the next world is the next movie.' Under many and varied guises and personae, Allegretti manages to negotiate the 'assertive press of the tongue against the roof' in one poem, a 'diabolical staircase' in another, and even 'the snow on the sea' in yet another remarkable lyric. It's all here: from documentary technique to complex political and historical commentary, to pithy aphorisms, haiku, and large-hearted social consciousness - and all so artfully and surprisingly integrated, too." -- Peter Covino, Winner of the 2007 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry; "Come, children, and take your seat for 'Europa/Nippon/New York, ' where Joel Allegretti spans the globe with ears to the ground and eyes toward the stars. 'The next world is the next movie, ' the poet writes. Phantoms, chanson, Godzilla, bread and wine, riddlers-to-be roll through the projector-light of the poet's wildly associative forms, his unforced epiphanies and extravagant voice. -- Daniel Nester Author, "How to Be Inappropriate"

"In "Thrum" Joel Allegretti, deftly and delightfully, strums his magical musical instrument, which is poetry, as he forges fresh forms of songs and stories that are inspired by strummers' strings. 'Context is everything, ' Allegretti reminds us, and we're planted in the heart of a global ancient/modern orchestra. Prepare yourself for the revelatory performance." -- Martine Bellen, Author of "Tales of Murasaki and Other Poems," 1997 National Poetry Series selection
"Joel Allegretti's latest collection of poems is as enjoyable as it is different. Thrum takes the reader on a journey that explores known musical instruments, such as the mandolin, dulcimer and fiddle, as well as some not-so-known instruments, such as the oud, koto and theorbo. But what makes this journey unique is that each instrument is in a sense personified as the emotive element of each instrument is brought to life. Allegretti does a wonderful job tuning every poem so that the music of each instrument is realized again and again in the words on the page. An intriguing and must read for anyone who has a sense of all that culminates in the commingling of the arts." -- Raymond Hammond, Editor, "The New York Quarterly"

First published in the year 2000 in a hand-bound edition, The Plague Psalms presents a neo-Romantic vision worthy of Baudelaire and Poe: a world haunted by Moorish Spain, the Inquisition, the Black Death, Erik (the Phantom of the Opera), the music of the Oud, and other subjects penitential and pestilential. The book design incorporates wood engravings by Albrecht Durer. This new third edition recreates all the color content of the original printing.

"In THRUM Joel Allegretti, deftly and delightfully, strums his magical musical instrument, which is poetry, as he forges fresh forms of songs and stories that are inspired by strummers' strings. 'Context is everything, ' Allegretti reminds us, and we're planted in the heart of a global ancient/modern orchestra. Prepare yourself for the revelatory performance."-- Martine Bellen, Author of TALES OF MURASAKI AND OTHER POEMS, 1997 National Poetry Series selection