Poetry. These are beautiful poems (Grace Paley). Amber Coverdale Sumrall's poems are deeply felt and will touch many with their evocation of love and possiblilty and wings (Lucille Clifton). Written with honesty and grace, these poems move through a landscape shaped by a rich, personal history and a clear rendering of details that, in the telling, become much larger than their sum. Wise and tender, Litany of Wings maps out one womans journey towards some center, that startling, wordless place that harbors what is most human in all of us (Silvia Curbelo). Beads of ice hang from the coral tree / and still there is no rain. / The sky does not open. / Not here. Not yet. / We are in peril. / Men are setting fire to the earth (Silence at the End of the World). Amber Coverdale Smith facilitates workshops on writing and spirituality, and is co-director of WomenCARE (Cancer Advocacy, Resources and Edication) in Santa Cruz, California.

Litany of Wings

Literature & Fiction

Sumrall, Amber Coverdale

Poetry

Many Names Press

Poetry. In her new book Patrice Vecchione proves you can be 'in two places at once.' Her poems drift seamlessly between the world of the living and dead...and we discover heaven is much nearer that we might suppose (Gary Young). Patrice Vecchione's poems are a wonder. They knife to the heart of the inner planet where each of us lives .... Her range is astonishing and her words soar. She is, in fact, what I call 'a poet of the pure lyric.' Her voice calls us back to the place where poetry breathes eternally -- in the language. TERRITOY OF WIND is a marvelous collection. Don't miss it (Morton Marcus). Mother, your voice is freezing. It is winter enough / for a fire. I want to see you every day. (My Mother Is A Horse) Patrice Vecchione is editor of FAULT LINES: CHILDREN'S EARTHQUAKE POETRY. Through her program, The Heart of the Word: Poetry and the Imagination, Patrice teaches poetry along California's central coast.

Territory of Wind

Patrice Vecchione

Poetry. Clair Killen was born in 1920, and only began to write after attending a writer's workshop in 1993. Killen speaks of family, memory, and daily life in this down-to-earth collection. '...Now, you are old dealing with worn joints./ It has never been joyous at year's end/ and you are in a place you never/ allowed before.// You can't run. You can't hide. // Your voice calls your name. You listen,/ you soften, and you listen.' (Year End)

Look, No Hands!

Killen, Clair

Poetry. AS IF THE WORLD MADE SENSE are new poems by Maude Meehan, poet, editor, lecturer and lifelong activist. Dubbed Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz, California, Maude has been writing poetry only since she was 55. Her last book of selected poems, WASHING THE STONES (1997, Papier-Mache) received high acclaim and set in motion this publication for her 84th year. "Read Maude Meehan's new poems and your head will spin. Travel with her through landscapes that are lush 'taut with desire' and harsh 'empty space as tangible as touch'. Read her and find what your life has been missing-an awareness sharp and poignant. These poems are a blessing" -Patrice Vecchione, author of WRITING AND THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.

As If the World Made Sense

Meehan, Maude

Fiction. Jewish Studies. Leba Wine's STITCHES IN TIME is based on stories of five generations of mothers in Wine's Jewish family, written as the biography of a family quilt. Wine explains: "My head was full of tales told to me by my grandmother. I had my mother's diaries full of stories. Best of all, I had the quilt made by my grandmother and great-grandmother. The imagery sewn on it would come to represent the history of hope and hardships that accompanied my ancestors to this land."

Stitches in Time

Biographies & Memoirs

Wine, Leba

Community & Culture

From time-to-time a poet, unattached to academia, explodes onto the scene fully-clothed in truth and authority. Indomitable Louise Grassi Whitney writes about her fascinating and full life, in exquisite form reminiscent of Sylvia Plath and Adrienne Rich and other thought-provoking poets in intensity, form and beauty. Her diverse subjects are of horses, her ties to the Paleolithic (hence, the mammoths) and the Explorers Club, the natural world, partnership with women, exotic places, dissolution of privilege upon divorce, her single motherhood and love of her three sons and grandchildren, inheritance and hardship, her mute son's autism and his ability to cast spells, and many, many other grand mysteries. 
A remarkable collection of poems plumbing the passion, beauty, sorrow and joy of a remarkable life. I have never seen language used this way, the mark of a strong and original talent. --Alex Shoumatoff, contributing editor, Vanity Fair, editor DispatchesFromTheVanishingWorld 
''Even when they speak of love these shining poems speak of horses, for Louise Whitney's life has been a wild, bold ride. From duck hunting as a girl in her party dress with her father, to grappling with an autistic son as a mother, she recounts in these poems the courage de luxe that she speaks of: Most of the time, I half expect to be killed in treacherous terrain, while galloping, And we read on and know it is true. --Victoria Shorr, contributor, Ms. Magazine, Huffington Post, Co-founder of the Archer School for Girls.

Wet Welded Together; Collected Poems

Louise Grassi Whitney

Co-authors Susan Allison and Thomas Hickenbottom in Our Spirits Dance, Poetry of Soul Mates, capture the beauty of soul-mated love by speaking across each page to one another through poems as love letters. Since first they met on a summer solstice almost twenty years before, to Thomas' final days in 2013, they have been writing poetry together. Dr. Susan Allison has honored her late husband by editing their love poems expressing their passion, longing, heartache, joy and their unbroken mystical connection to each other, and now sharing them with the reader.

Our Spirits Dance: Poetry of Soul Mates

Susan Allison

Thomas Hickenbottom

TELL ME THE NUMBER BEFORE INFINITY, THE STORY OF A GIRL WITH A QUIRKY MIND, AN ECCENTRIC FAMILY, AND OH YES, A DISABILITY describes life and the realities of having a disability in 60 short chapters, arranged chronologically. Although several books on disabilities already exist, the use of two narrations is unique. The subject is Becky Taylor, from her birth in 1972 to about age forty. The mother, Dena Taylor, begins the book by telling us about her daughter's earliest years, discovering Becky's cerebral palsy, and her exceptional gift for calculus and depth of thought at the age of four. Then Becky and Dena, from their own distinct perspectives and styles, in counterpoint, write of Becky's early childhood, school years with the family, and on to college and adulthood. Stan Rushworth wrote about the book: "..we experience the honest, blended lives and feelings of these two women, navigating all that happens together from birth through adulthood, from different viewpoints that are very deeply intermingled.... carries strength, humor, and pain, and it will make a profound difference in people's lives.” TELL ME THE NUMBER BEFORE INFINITY is a hero's journey with Becky Taylor at the forefront of the 1975 federal education act mainstreaming disabled children into the public schools. Parents, teachers, people with disabilities, people who know and work with people with disabilities, those curious about how a child's mind works, and even brain researchers will find TELL ME THE NUMBER BEFORE INFINITY a fascinating and informative read. The title is Becky's answer to her father’s question to her as to whether infinity is an odd or an even number. She was four years old at the time, the same age as she was in the cover photo. Becky Taylor has a degree in accounting, and is a Computer Science graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives in Santa Cruz where she vice-chairs the Commission on Disabilities, and is involved in other civic organizations. Dena Taylor, M.S.W., Rutgers University, is the mother of two grown daughters, and is retired from careers in social work and education. She is the author, editor and co-editor of six books on women's issues. Included are 20 photos and newspaper clippings from throughout Becky’s life, and resources with links at the end of the book.

Tell Me the Number before Infinity: The Story of a Girl with a Quirky Mind, an Eccentric Family, and Oh Yes, a Disability

Taylor, Dena

Taylor, Dr Becky

When Eli Whitney turned 13, a special special education teacher taught him how to use facilitated communication to spell words. Eli, born mute and with little control of his muscles, began relaying thoughtful poems on family, politics, and life as an adult. His mother, the poet Louise Grassi Whitney, transcribed the words from a spelling board to handwriting. Eli Whitney is now in his late 30s and living in a group home in San Rafael, California. Library of Congress Control Number: 2019942029

Speaking for the Unspeakable

Whitney, Eli

Collected poetry of Dena M. Taylor of Santa Cruz county, California, from her early childhood in the 1940's to 2020. Poetry about her daughters, grandchildren, family and relationships.

Exclamation Points: Collected Poems

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Many Names Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Many Names Press