Overview

BLUE REVERIE IN SMOKE explores the lonely and taxing journey of discovering what it means to be human, in all its variables, risks and rewards. This is a collection of poetry that takes on the mundane of a woman's life; the good, the bad and the potentially spirit breaking. Some of the poems focus on motherhood and the joyous challenge of helping our children reach adulthood, contrasted with the often difficult process of learning to let go. Other areas of focus include the difficult aspects of long term marriage and the inevitable personal betrayal that results when people fall out of love. Theresa Griffin Kennedy embraces modern free verse, with a slight formalist tone that could be compared to English poet James Fenton or the more intimate poetry of American poetess Sharon Olds. This is a book that delves into the melancholy and fluid process of remembrance and forgetfulness. The remembrance of cherished loved ones and the complex relationship to long regarded enemies. It is a book of verse that takes on the universal challenges that face any woman who has ever loved, lost and tried again.

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Reviews

In these personal and deeply felt poems, Theresa Griffin Kennedy explores love, family, aging, and childhood through the lens of loss. Blue Reverie In Smoke lays bare Kennedy's own examination of her life as she wades through memory and history in her struggle to reconcile where we come from, who we are, and what is gained and lost along the way. Margaret Malone, author of People Like You Blue Reverie in Smoke is a memorial crafted from memories; memories of loved people. Some lost and others celebrated. Each poem lights a beacon and leads the reader deeper into a comfortable nostalgia. Theresa Griffin Kennedy is fearless with her vulnerability and that honesty, along with her dangerous yet complementary word choice makes this work stand out from the crowd. Sean Davis, author of The Wax Bullet War Theresa Griffin Kennedy is a poet of powerful vision and unique voice. Her poems are often about the emotions and sentiments that grip and whirl us during moments of profound loss. Her voice remembers those times and describes them almost playfully. Blue Reverie in Smoke is a notable achievement and worth reading. -JD Chandler, author of Murder and Scandal in Prohibition Portland Poetry as memoir, as presenting a life, is seeing through the poet's eyes. Theresa Griffin Kennedy has been building poems within her long before she began writing them, and she's been writing poetry for over fifteen years. With only a couple of exceptions, all the poems are about the people in Theresa's life and her interactions with them. Through the variety of these interactions, she explores what it means to be human, from individual circumstances to inter-connected generations and local society as a whole. While Theresa is often quite direct, using sharp colorful phrasings, about others flaws and virtues, the reader must look carefully to get a full picture of the poet herself - tender, no-nonsense, quietly observing, and juggernauting to make things as she thinks they should be. The author's shifting personality and perspective from poem to poem, as well as her own admissions of mistakes and growth, is as strong a unifying element in this book as are family and community. Theresa's first collection of poetry shows an amazing range of style, voice and subject matter-so much so that one could doubt all the poems came from the same writer. Yes, some of the poems show family connection, but others are removed. Consistent throughout is the coherence of each poem, and the craft evident in each piece, whether the classical modality of ""Discordia's Pyrrhic Victory"" or the crisp prose of ""In America 1971."" Throughout, there is absorption into the poetry because of Theresa's skills as a writer. Theresa is skilled with her poetic tool belt, providing a range of pacing, line lengths, some formality in tone, and crisp, inventive phrasings. A couple poems are centered on the page, a couple are prose poems, and the lengths vary from a quarter page to more than two. The life Theresa Griffin Kennedy has lead, her own evolution and personal growth, provide many breath-taking, heartwarming and table-pounding moments. While some poems are confessional, the majority of the works here are centered in observation, experience and discovery. I have several favorites here that I consider anthology worthy poems, and I'm sure every reader will. While this is her first book, Blue Reverie in Smoke has the maturity of Theresa's life experiences, and the sweat-and-heart honed craft of someone who's been writing in the shadows for decades. Dan Raphael, poet and author of Impulse & Warp

Author Information

Author Theresa Griffin Kennedy grew up in Northwest Portland during the challenging sixties and seventies. She came of age in the 1980s, during what is commonly referred to as The Greed Decade. Kennedy graduated from Portland State University with undergraduate and graduate degrees and was educated as a creative writing instructor. She spends her time writing literary fiction, specifically the genre of Domestic Noir, which she also refers to as hyper realism. Kennedy writes historical profiles, poetry, nonfiction essays and various articles and essays on current events and Portland politics. Kennedy works as an editor of other writers work and volunteers her time mentoring younger writers. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, writer and author Don DuPay, is a registered Democrat and an active supporter of the Oregon Assembly of Black Affairs. She is the author of several books, including the excellent short story collection entitled Burnside Field Lizard and Selected Stories, which was a finalist for a national book award in 2019. She is the editor of Oregon Greystone Press.

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