Publishing

In addition to our journal, Ardent!, Poetry in the Arts publishes full length books of poetry by invitation.

Please feel free to browse our past publising projects archive.

Into the Light by Claire Ottenstein-Ross The subject of this collection is the colors of an heirloom quilt; the sun-scorched vistas of West Texas; the luminous shafts making stained-glass patterns. . . . Larry D. Thomas 2008 Texas Poet Laureate

Toss Me to the Waiting Sky by Mary Margaret Carlisle Mary Margaret doesn't need the Alps or the misty Pacific at Big Sur. A garden in a yard in suburban Houston is nature enough under that Waiting Sky. Worked soil, passing birds, tended vines, the coastal grass and trees that grow no matter who says what—all these beneath the baroque masses of cloud and teeming rains the Gulf of Mexico sends us—spark and feed her meditations. To read, as here, a lot of Mary Margaret Carlisle is to encounter the well-meditated life. She's deep. . . . Dr. John Gorman, University of Houston, Clear Lake

Pleadings from the Pleiades by Ken Jones I always look forward to hearing or reading Ken Jones’ poems. You can count on an honest-in your face report-that allows the possibility of a new insight and/or focus into even the most discursive of subjects. . . . Dave Parsons, Winner of the Texas Review Poetry Prize and Poet Laureate of Montgomery County

Solidago: An Altar to Weeds by Charlotte Renk Charlotte Renk's latest book, Solidago, is a metaphoric scratchboard that turns into an illuminated manuscript. Her concept of using weeds as a focusing device is inspired; we overlook and dismiss them, diminish their value. Charlotte, though, makes us look through the darkness of the background, makes us scratch for meaning, and assures us, again and again, there is always something to be admired, always something that is green. It's no accident there is a constant mention of being green. This book is Charlotte's work at its strongest, most multi-layered, and most defiant. Even as she questions, again and again, why some plants are overlooked, discarded, and regarded as common, she states, again and again, in wonderful extended metaphors, that life is full of value and joy, regardless of how it is named, regardless of the titles we use. Alan Lee Birkelbach, Poet Laureate of Texas, 2005

Endless Echoes By Cynthia Good Cynthia Good is a seeker whose spirit soars in her poems and incantatory prayers. Exploring the divides between prose and poetry, the ordinary and the sacred, and life and art, with ironic wit she takes us on a personal journey through modern culture, finding it sorely lacking for the most part. Within her poetic landscapes, whether an ashram in San Francisco, traveling, or becoming a photographer in San Antonio, single and then partnered, she is not discouraged by experience, but remains curious and enthusiastic. Perhaps that's why I feel light-hearted (as opposed to heavy-) when I read her work. Laura Beausoleil, writer and publisher of Philos Press

Shades of Gray: A Journey by Maxine Barnes Kohanski As parents, we breathe a sigh of relief when our children reach adulthood, but Maxine Kohanski’s poems in Shades of Gray show us the strength and importance of continued parenting. When daughter Schemen faces brain cancer, she turns to her parents and the difficult tasks of facing this horror, then dealing with it together follow. Maxine’s poems are filled with hope and faith, but do not sugarcoat the despair and questioning. The poems are marked with an honesty that brings the reader into such empathy that you feel you are at Schemen’s hospital bedside. After reading these poems, we find ourselves thanking Maxine for sharing and then hoping with the Kohanski’s as they continue their journey through Shades of Gray. J. Paul Holcombe Poet from Double Oak