Literary

Peach Picks: Things to Read This Week

by / May. 3, 2017 7am EST

 ON PEACH: 

Yesterday at Peach we published three untitled poems by Theo Thimo, an Albanian American poet currently living in Los Angeles. Within the poems appear love interests, drugs, and daily sadness as Thimo’s prose unfolds in chatty streams of thought. Thimo’s enthusiastic delivery often guides lines in surprising directions; they write, “i kno there are many potential things wrong with the person who i have become, i am too quick to connect w anyone who’s similar to or has as great hair as me.” The sweet sincerity of the speaker of the poems manifests in a tone that is unabashedly eager without being overdone, like the texts you sent to your best friend on the walk home from the party. “it is so temporary and nice being alive,” Thimo ​writes, “and omg u guys, first kisses are the best, they’re everything to me, i kno if i were to try i could make anyone be the first.”


 IN PRINT: 

Organizing Isolation: Half-Life of Love at Long Distance​
by Aidan Ryan
(visual poetry)
Linoleum Press, 72 pages

A couple weeks ago we published a few excerpts from Aidan Ryan’s debut collection of poetry, Organizing Isolation: Half-Life of Love at Long Distance, out now from Buffalo’s own Linoleum Press. The collection is a portrait of ultimates—love, religion, presence, absence—formed from the fragments of letters and postcards previously sent to Ryan by his loved ones. The resulting poems feed new life into moments whose hunger has long since abated. In a poem entitled “The Sister [September 2015],” Ryan collages text that reads, “I have no ideas / none significant or strange. / And living alone at the end causes me such unfunny anxiety. / I’ve never heard anyone shuffle like god / but I’m glad we are continuing.” The careful manipulation of the text speaks to the magical way we sometimes manipulate memories, given enough estrangement, in an attempt at what Ryan sharply terms “organizing isolation.” The collection is the latest run in local photographer and book artist Joel Brenden’s publishing press, Linoleum, which specializes in artist books and other beautifully designed printed matter. True to form, Brenden adds stunning craftsmanship to Ryan’s vision and produced an art object that plays with themes of organizing and the intimacy of handwritten letters.


 IN TOWN & ONLINE: 

In celebration of National Poetry Month, people in Buffalo gathered at Westminster Presbyterian Church a couple weekends ago to read all 1,789 poems written by Emily Dickinson. The marathon was co-sponsored by the UB Department of English and Just Buffalo Literary Center, but was not limited to scholars and poetry buffs. The event was family-friendly and community-oriented, with comedy and musical performances to break up the afternoon. Even Mayor Byron Brown made an appearance and read a poem. Volunteers read from the recently released Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them by Cristanne Miller, Edward H. Butler Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at UB. Those who missed the event have the opportunity to hear any of Dickinson’s poems, totaling more than eight hours, at the Emily Dickinson Marathon YouTube channel.


“Peach Picks” is a column of literary news and recommendations written by the editors of Peach Mag, an online literary magazine based in Buffalo. For inquiries, contact the editors at peachmgzn@gmail.com.

 

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