All art constantly aspires, Walter Pater claimed, towards the condition of music. The poems in Tom Snarsky's first full-length collection Light-Up Swan are animated by twin forces: an abiding love of music, and an equal fondness for the ghostly conversation engendered by quotation. With whimsy tempered by obsessive fascination, the author unfolds an open dialogue with a private pantheon of musicians and poets, both living and dead. These spectral encounters are staged on a far-reaching array of settings, from oceans to virtual gamescapes, starry canvases to comedy clubs. The speaker of the poems is by turns assured and uncertain: in one moment explaining a mathematical result from automata theory, and in the next returning to youthful conflicts and preoccupations. Are we going in circles is a fair question for this cyclical book that wears its obsessions and anxieties on its sleeve, but Light-Up Swan moves towards a helical lift. Like a string of soft lights winding up a swan's neck, these poems are composed of gentle details that welcome readers into a charmingly off-kilter world-once inside, their curiosity will be rewarded by a warm and unusual sensibility that only Tom Snarsky can bring.
Most Americans believe that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. But British scientist Joseph Swan was working on this invention at the same time. Patent battles, lies, and determination fill out this race to create the first usable light bulb!
"Ninety-five-year-old Violet Swan has spent a lifetime translating tragedy and hardship into art, becoming famous for her abstract paintings, which evoke tranquility, innocence, and joy. For nearly a century Violet has lived a peaceful, private life of painting on the coast of Oregon. The "business of Violet" is run by her only child, Francisco, and his wife, Penny. But shortly before Violet's death, an earthquake sets a series of events in motion, and her deeply hidden past begins to resurface. When her beloved grandson returns home with a family secret in tow, Violet is forced to come to terms with the life she left behind so long ago - a life her family knows nothing about. A generational saga set against the backdrop of twentieth-century America and into the present day, Violet Swan is the story of a girl who escaped rural Georgia at fourteen during World War II, crossing the country alone and with no money. It is the story of how that girl met the man who would become her devoted husband, how she became a celebrated artist, and above all, how her life, inspired by nothing more than the way she imagines it to be, will turn out to be her greatest masterpiece."--Provided by publisher.
Diane Frank presents in Swan Light a finely wrought choreography of poetry that intersects with the music of language and the spirit of dance. These poems of love returning to love, and light returning to light, are a heart gone supernova. Page by page Frank burns a path to her readers' hearts. The alignments are profound, the connections electric from heart to bone, from marrow to star. These are radiant poems, where we earthbound creatures may find simultaneous escape and renewal. Diane Frank is an award-winning poet and author of six books of poems, including Swan Light, Entering the Word Temple and The Winter Life of Shooting Stars. Her friends describe her as a harem of seven women in one very small body. She lives in San Francisco, where she dances, plays cello, and creates her life as an art form. Diane teaches at San Francisco State University and Dominican University. She leads workshops for young writers as a Poet in the School and directs the Blue Light Press On-line Poetry Workshop. She is also a documentary scriptwriter with expertise in Eastern and sacred art. Blackberries in the Dream House, her first novel, won the Chelson Award for Fiction and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Yoga of the Impossible, her new novel, will be published soon. To schedule readings, book signings and workshops, and to invite her to speak to your book club, contact: E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.dianefrank.net BOOKS BY DIANE FRANK Yoga of the Impossible Swan Light Blackberries in the Dream House Entering the Word Temple The Winter Life of Shooting Stars The All Night Yemenite Cafe Rhododendron Shedding Its Skin Isis: Poems by Diane Frank "These poems of love returning to love, and light returning to light, are a heart gone supernova. Page by page, Frank burns a path to her readers' hearts. The alignments are profound, the connections electric - from heart to bone, from marrow to star. These are radiant poems, where we earthbound creatures may find simultaneous escape and renewal." -George Wallace, Walt Whitman Birthplace Writer in Residence "There may be those who think of poetry as optional, but Diane Frank's Swan Light does not support that thinking, since it addresses a hunger you didn't know you had, first with trace nutrients of the soul, and as you progress, with the solid food of organic experience. Read, savour and be nourished." -Paul Stokstad, Author of Butterfly Tattoo "In Swan Light Diane Frank has written an irrepressible and epic love story: a love story for lover, artist, parent, child, earth, heaven, spirit, body, and music; a love story for what we are forced to leave behind, and for what we are lucky enough to keep; a love story whose thread is the music of love found in the many narratives and lyrics we live while walking, writing, running, dancing, painting, and praying. This is Diane Frank's most ambitious body of poetry to date, and I say "body" because the word "collection" is so inaccurate. This book is a whole, breathing the same breath as the author, and singing a meaning threaded with intricate images and motifs." -Rustin Larson, author of Crazy Star and The Wine-Dark House "Diane Frank presents in Swan Light a finely wrought choreography of poetry that intersects with the music of language and the spirit of dance. In these poems are whole constellations of imagery, a resplendent aurora of words showering down to light up the geography of the page. If poetry should not mean but be, as MacLeish proclaimed, then these poems by Diane Frank truly are." -Andrena Zawinski, author of Something About, PEN Oakland Award "Here is a book to treasure, to take down frequently for no particular reason, a book to help us remember why we took to poetry in the first place." -Daniel J. Langton, Creative Writing Program, San Francisco State University
Growing up in a tranquil wilderness, Teal Swan had a childhood that was anything but serene. Horrors lurked behind the façade of the perfect houses and pious community of the surrounding towns, and Teal attracted undue attention because of her unusually powerful extrasensory abilities. At the hands of a local cult member, she barely survived 13 years of horrendous abuse – and even after her escape, she was left powerless, lost, hurting, and with no way to cope. Gradually, and incredibly, Teal forged her way from the edge of despair to a sliver of light . . .and eventually emerged from the darkness into the full dawn of self-love. Here, she shows how you, too, can achieve the feelings of worthiness that may be long missing from your life. Now a recognized spiritual luminary, Teal documents how she dug herself out of self-hate, and details the remarkable trail for others to get to the same place. Shadows Before Dawn encompasses both Teal’s compelling story, told with raw intensity, and her resolute, no-nonsense how-to guide to healing from even the deepest levels of suffering. Offering a comprehensive self-love tool kit, Teal shares powerful exercises, insights, and perspective grounded in spirituality, and lets you choose which techniques are right for you. Teal’s resonating words will sit with your soul long after you put this book down and will serve as guideposts on the way to complete self-love – no matter who you are or where you are in life.
In a nightmarish, post-holocaust world, an ancient evil roams a devastated America, gathering the forces of human greed and madness, searching for a child named Swan who possesses the gift of life.
After his wife's untimely death, a powerful sorcerer dedicates his life to seeking revenge against all womankind. He turns his captives into beautiful swans--who briefly regain human form by the fleeting light of the moon. Only Odette, noblest of the enchanted flock, has the courage to confront her captor. But can she gain the allies she needs to free herself and the other swan-maidens from their magical slavery?A monumental tale of loyalty and betrayal, of magic good and evil, of love both carnal and pure, and of the duality of human nature, The Black Swan is a rich tapestry which is sure to become an all-time masterpiece of fantasy.
Mouse’s world is constrained by a number of factors: her mother is dead, her father – the admired country doctor – is emotionally distant, her housekeeper Sal is prejudiced and narrow, and her grandmother and aunt, Big Louie and Little Louie, the only life-affirming presences in her life, live in another city. Enter Gentleman John Pilkie, the former NHL star who’s transferred to the mental hospital in Madoc’s Landing, where he is to serve out his life-sentence for the murder of his wife and daughter. John becomes a point of fascination for young Mary, who looks to him for the attention she does not receive from her father. He, in turn, is kind to her – but the kindness is misunderstood. When Mary figures out that the attention she receives from the Hockey Killer is different in kind and intent from the attention her Aunt Little Louie receives, her world collapses. Set against the beautiful and dramatic shore of Georgian Bay, the climax will have readers turning pages with concern for characters they can’t help but love.
