Books: Meditations on Life and Landscapes

Turned Earth

“Turned Earth” is Brad Richard’s fifth poetry collection, this one by LSU Press. This collection goes through Richard’s journey as he navigates his mother’s death, life with his husband and being a teacher. Richard’s placement in New Orleans, and in this time beyond his mother’s death, is prevalent in poems such as “Tenant,” where he writes “I don’t believe in ghosts, haven’t seen one / since I was three.” These poems drip with the essence of a New Orleans poet who is grappling with the death of a loved one and how to live with and honor their memory. 90 Pages, $20.95

Libre

“Libre” is Skye Jackson’s debut poetry collection. Jackson, a native New Orleanian, published her full-length poetry book with Regalo Press, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster. Her poems are a combination of prose, and of form, they’re tender, they make you smirk, they are sexy. They explore being a Black woman living in the world, such as in her award-winning poem “can we touch your hair,” which was selected to be included in the Library of Congress Poetry 180 project by former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Jackson is a Writer’s Circle Advisory Board Member for the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival and is a graduate of the University of New Orleans. 120 Pages, $17.99

Waking up the Dream State: Nine Environmental Cases That Shaped Louisiana

Oliver Houck is one of the main environmental attorneys in Louisiana. In “Waking up the Dream State: Nine Environmental Cases That Shaped Louisiana,” Houck circles some of the most important environmental cases affecting Louisiana, a state that is on the frontlines of climate change, and the disasters that are becoming all the more frequent with it. Cases from the Vieux Carre Highway case to Shintech get explored through the people that fought for and helped save the environment and the people who lived there. Unlike many historical books that focus on the law, this book focuses on and features mostly people, the communities and the attorneys who helped create the laws that have helped save the world. 278 Pages, $24.95

The Singing River

Benjamin Morris’ “The Singing River,” published by Belle Point Press, synthesizes the Southern landscape that fills up and surrounds the state of Louisiana. The poems in this book span over 20 years and represent a body of work that encapsulates a lot of the world that surrounds Morris as he has spent most of his life in the South. Morris’ poetry is layered with the scholastic and academic knowledge of the author, while writing with the poetics that will keep you reading “The Singing River” all day. “The Singing River” was a finalist for the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. 80 Pages, $16.95