Seattle: Alive at the Center: Contemporary Poems from Seattle, Washington

by Cody Walker (Editor), Kathleen Flenniken (Editor), David D. Horowitz (Editor)

Seattle, Washington's vast and varied contemporary poetry scene is on display in Alive at the Center , a community-based anthology. A collection of more than 75 poems from a wide spectrum of poets, Alive at the Center is a cultural snapshot, showcasing the best new and established voices from this city. Three poets from Seattle came together to recognize the best work of their peers, curating a collection that explores the atmosphere, beauty, complexity, and personality of their home. As the inaugural project from Ooligan Press’s Pacific Poetry Project, this book embodies the Project’s mission to bring poetry to the people by making contemporary poetic voices accessible and exciting for everyone through community involvement and conversation.

Genres: Poetry

104 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Cody Walker lives in Ann Arbor and teaches English at the University of Michigan. He's the author of two poetry collections: The Self-Styled No-Child and Shuffle and Breakdown, both from The Waywiser Press. His awards include the James Boatwright III Prize for Poetry from Shenandoah and residency fellowships from the University of Arizona Poetry Center and the Amy Clampitt Fund. A longtime writer-in-residence in Seattle Arts & Lectures' Writers in the Schools program, he was elected Seattle Poet Populist in 2007. His work appears in The Best American Poetry, The New Yorker, Parnassus, Slate, The Yale Review, and Poetry Northwest. He blogs for The Kenyon Review.

Reviews

[GW · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one mention of Mt. Rainer. This anthology had in it some remarkable poems, but the theme of disilusionment and melancholy was sadly depressing. I think Seattle should make there own truely Emerald collection and include the themes of hope and despair as a polar conumdrum of what I think is Seattle's essence. The list of Poets seemed like a huge brag session of regional poohbaa's