This Metal

by Joseph Bathanti

"When an avid reader of contemporary poetry discovers a book so full of warmth and eloquent exactitude, she is grateful and excited to read more by the author. This was my first experience of reading Joseph Bathanti's fourth book of poems, This Metal. I felt humbled by reading a poet whose voice was strong, but I was simultaneously dazzled by a vocabulary rich in metaphor and inflected by the language of faith and place." From the Introduction, by Mary Jo Bona

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Joseph Bathanti was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He came to North Carolina as a VISTA Volunteer in 1976 to work with prison inmates. Bathanti is the author of four books of poetry: Communion Partners; Anson County; The Feast of All Saints; and This Metal, which was nominated for The National Book Award. His first novel, East Liberty, winner of the Carolina Novel Award, was published in 2001. His latest novel, Coventry, won the 2006 Novello Literary Award. They Changed the State: The Legacy of North Carolina’s Visiting Artists, 1971-1995, his book of nonfiction, was published in early 2007. Most recently, his collection of short stories, The High Heart, winner of the 2006 Spokane Prize, was published by Eastern Washington University Press in 2007. He is the recipient of a Literature Fellowship from the North Carolina Arts Council; The Samuel Talmadge Ragan Award, presented annually for outstanding contributions to the Fine Arts of North Carolina over an extended period; the Linda Flowers Prize; the Sherwood Anderson Award, the 2007 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Prize; and others. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. On August 30, 2012, Joseph was named Poet Laureate of North Carolina.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very glad I read these poems. They are poems about life in Pittsburgh and about life in the universe. They are poems about family, and they are poems about humanity. Sometimes they made me laugh. They almost all made me think. They made me remember, perhaps, best of all. They caused me to pause over the pictures I have in my life of my family, of my dear ones, even of my enemies. The author gives a lot here.

[Suzanne Manners · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Bathanti is our state's Poet Laureate. I was honored to attend one of his writer's workshops when he was a guest speaker at our library, and loved that he could recite Bob Dylan's Idiot Wind when he learned I was a fan.

This Metal is a collection of poems about his life, family, and growing up Catholic in Pennsylvania. His use of metaphors to describe feelings is impressive, showing us memories that continue to spark and live. As a mother of boys, I enjoyed Washing Her Ruined Boy, and felt an ache for my sons, who are grown men now. I wish I could still comfort them today when things go wrong like I used to when they were small. In another poem about crossing the state line with a date, I was reminded of similar escapades in my high school years. Bathanti's poems illustrate emotions and tell stories that readers can connect to. This collection has more than a few that have become favorites of mine.