Ways of Seeing

Sister Creatures

Set in Pinecreek, Louisiana, Laura Venita Green’s “Sister Creatures” starts with the protagonist, Tess, encountering a stranger with her daughter and a friend. Venita Green writes the scene with equal parts wonder, terror and empathy. The encounter leaves Tess grabbing her daughter, running away and leaving blood on her cheek when she spots the stranger in her rearview mirror as she drives away. Venita Green’s writing keeps the reader engaged, as the story weaves in different genres and characters in ways that continue to grip the reader. A Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop alum, Laura Venita Green lives in New Orleans. 236 pages, $28

Whitman. Cannonball. Puebla.

“Whitman. Cannonball. Puebla.” is the latest book of poetry by New Orleans poet Rodrigo Toscano. Toscano’s book is split up into four parts, and as is his style, so many of his poems tie the physical to the philosophical, the contemporary to our shared history, the political to the people. Toscano’s poetics will often have you laughing and thinking, uncovering something new with each rereading of a poem. Picking up “Whitman. Cannonball. Puebla. ,” you can’t not feel the verve, and hear Toscano’s voice, as one poem bleeds into the next, and you have to finish it, before starting it all over again.  108 pages, $19.95

Cajun South Brown Folk

In Shome Dasgupta’s “Cajun South Brown Folk,” he uses his poetry in order to connect his East Indian roots with the Acadian setting he currently lives in. These poems are heavily embedded with place but also history. Dasgupta weaves the Cajun and Bengali cultures that have made up his life into beautiful poetics. Each line feels like it is filled with a dual consciousness, of his Asian and Acadian selves, as they combine to form beautiful poetry of a uniquely American experience. This is shown in poems like “A Louisiana Sestina,” where Dasgupta writes, “You—once a ghost, a myth, creating your own rougarou in a flooded history.” 72 pages, $16.95

The Furies

Moira Egan’s “The Furies” conjures classic women characters from myths of old, including Medusa and Mary Magdalene, and breathes new life into them with her poetics. Egan’s voice, and how she lends her poems to these women characters, highlights and upholds women’s voices. Egan brings home this point in the title poem, “The Furies: a hero[in]ic sonnet crown, with index,” with the lines, “And yes, it’s plain, we must reclaim the names / they hurtle at us. Vixen, harridan, / virago, harpy, nag, hag…” This is Egan’s ninth book, and it is published by LSU Press. 92 pages, $20.95