Book Review: The Poet's Place

February 11, 7:02 AMSeattle Books ExaminerDanielle Dreger-Babbitt

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I am a big fan of poetry especially poetry anthologies.  As much as I enjoy the collected works of a poet, say Anne Sexton or Sylvia Plath, I enjoy collections with different authors much more.  I like immersing myself in words of several different authors and their styles, which makes a collection like The Poet's Place:  A Collection of Works edited by Justin R. McManus so appealing.

Julie M. Tate, one of the poets featured in the book, said she came across the The Poet's Place on Craigslist and liked the editor's manifesto on the Poet's Place website, so she decided to contribute to the collection. 

I, like many of you out there, have been a struggling writer for years. I have submitted countless poems to many different magazines and publishers only to be told they weren't accepting submissions or my work wasn't what they were looking for. As a poet it is very difficult to get your work out there for others to read and enjoy. Most literary agents work with fiction/nonfiction writers and not poets. Usually the only option a poet has is to self publish their work and then try to promote it themselves. This process can be very time consuming and expensive. So what I do is I recruit poets from around the world to submit their work to me to be included in an anthology...

There are no strings attached for the poets who contribute.  The editor does not require them to purchase copies of the book just to get published like some anthologies or contests do.  This mission to get "baby poets" published is genuine.  The Poet's Place is comprised of 103 poems by 33 poets.  Many authors have an abundance of poems: Caroyln Johnson, Beth Galantha, and Agnieszka Anna Chapas each have six poems in the collection.  The editor McManus has seven poems.

As with any poetry collection, there are a few undesirable or uninspiring poems, but for the most part the collection is pretty solid with poetry that touches on subjects like the war in Iraq, the Holocaust, broken hearts (an anthology would not be complete without  a homage to failed relationships), motherhood, childhood, consumerism, and the current recession.  You could say this collection is definitely timely.

Poems like "The Right Word" by Allison C. Snyder and "This is Your Capitan Speaking" by Tate read like short stories.  I didn't want the poems to end.  One of the most memorable poems was written by William R. Mitchum IV.  "Love's Sacrifice" was written for his girlfriend while he was stationed in Iraq as a firefighter/ paramedic at Camp Taji.  The poem a time and sacrifice one makes for themselves and others.  The funniest poem probably was "Migraine Headache" written by Matthew Harris about the havoc a migraine wrecks on one's sanity. 

The Poet's Place is available for purchase on Amazon, though you won't be able to read it on your Kindle.  This collection would fit nicely in with the poetry collections at most libraries, especially public and academic institutions as there is definitely something for everyone in the anthology.