New From Spartan Press

Vojta’s poetry lives between garden and wild river, between honesty and tenderness, between litany and lyricism, wrapping the reader in the awareness that our orderly universe still allows breathing space for surprise and wonder.
—Amy Wright Vollmar, Follow

Love Song to Gravity’s sensuous, rich imagery is a needed refuge, an invitation to enter the simpler reliability of an ordered world where there’s is order in chaos.
—Valerie A Szarek, Offerings

Brian writes in the language of a poet who has found his voice: gentle, introspective, strong. Ranging from deep self-reflection to poignant environmental pieces, from light verse to a chance encounter with a Quechua girl, to a soup kitchen feeding the homeless.
—Armando Garcia-Davila, Scarecrow’s Memories

Using every incantation at her disposal, Johnson presents a harrowing journey through the underworld where the reader meets The Grim Reaper, the Ferryman, assorted ghosts and minions, and of course, Lucifer himself. Surprisingly, Joan of Arc rounds out the register, balancing and breaking the tension with sardonic and often biting wit.
—Heidi Hermanson, Waking to the Dream and Cocktails with God

Written on the fly, dictated into his phone in real time while traveling, Gierke finds the aesthetic center of each song and composer. I highly recommend this collection to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of how music shapes our perceptions as we travel.
—Rick Christiansen, Bone Fragments (Spartan Press 2024)

These are musings of an open-road samurai, armed with unleaded gasoline and a well-curated playlist.
—Timothy Tarkelly, The You We Know and Love

Written to the beats of his eclectic playlist, the beat goes on: not some a ‘long strange trip’, but an inspired collection!
—Sharon SingingMoon, Random Seed

Americana writ large! Deftly delivered, elegantly crafted, cementing Gerson at the forefront of contemporary American poets. Radiantly encapsulating the travails of immigrants amid xenophobia, women confronting misogyny, veterans grappling with PTSD, and individuals facing anxiety, infirmity, and mortality. Luminous language from this Poet Laureate of the Everyday, of the American 99.99%, elevates one’s spirits, quiets tension, and provides hope regarding humanity’s fate.
—Dr. Robert C. Cottrell, The Heyday of Willie, Duke, and Mickey: New York City Baseball’s Golden Age Amid Integration

Captures the myriad facets of human identity: love and heartbreak, the dichotomy between inclusion and exclusion, the hope of youth and experience of age, the bloom of health and the withering of the infirm.
—Stacy Harken, JD, Information Architect/Technical Writer, Garmin Industries

Modern and sophisticated without sacrificing the human. A collection for our times.
—Collin Thomas

The kind of poetry James Wright referred to as “the poetry of a grown man,” embracing adversities and shocking realities without idealizations or anger but with the distance of an observer who has seen a lot.
—Ximena Gómez, Conversations about Water/Conversaciones sobre Agua

A one-eyed man working up the courage to talk to a waitress, a one-armed butcher in the French countryside, an artist who stalks prey and paints masterpieces with blood, Christiansen conjures “sharp encounters” leaving only the bones on your plate and these living ghosts in your head.
—Scott Ferry, Sapphires on the Graves

Christiansen gets his Whitman on and sings a song of himself, his heroes, and those he’s met along the way. An eclectic mix for the most eclectic of times.
—Chad Parenteau, Associate Editor Oddball Magazine and Stone Soup Poetry Author of Can’t Republic: Erasures and Blackouts