Overview

Maria Lisella's newest collection, At the Hour of Now, tells the unflinchingly honest story of a blended family that raises urgent questions, quells hearts and provides a gateway to healing from loss, bolstered by a firm belief in hope. Rich with dialogue, part love letter, part narrative in three voices, At the Hour of Now untangles the threads of storytelling, mental illness, grief, and caregiving. The randomness of fate, and the choices made or not made, span the globe from the Bronx to Italy, Morocco, and Puerto Rico. Ultimately, this book carries us past sorrow toward the elusive wonder of being alive to celebrate and survive with which each reader can identify.

Full Product Details

9781599542485

Table of Contents

Reviews

Maria Lisella's new book, At the Hour of Now, is an extraordinary fusion of what a human heart--dare I say soul-can experience on earth, with what poetic skill can accomplish in language. Language able to track an arc of difficult love over a lifetime of caring. -Alicia Ostriker, author of The Holy and Broken Bliss: Poetry in Plague TimeThe best poetry illuminates life and Maria Lisella's At the Hour of Now sheds light on grief, mental illness, ethnicity, and family. There is wisdom in Lisella's vividly rendered verse. She brings to it the knowledge that, although expectations may ensnare us, hope never will. I was deeply moved by this collection.-Wally Lamb, author of The River is WaitingThis is an unforgettable book from a poet at the peak of her poetic powers. If it weren't enough to hear Lisella's powerful poems of witness, this heartbreaking collection includes several poems by her stepson, Mario Fagiani, so he may speak for himself-giving this collection even more nuance and depth. -Jennifer Franklin, author of A Fire in Her BrainAt the Hour of Now is about letting go and holding on to those we have lost and to those we gain in the balance. This collection comes with ""A three-story roof"" that touches on generational trauma as well as generational celebration. So, whether Lisella is trying to decide whether her prompts are meant to inspire or if her stepson is meant to be a memory, each poem will show you the value of the human connection and how who we love lives on in those we continue to take care of.-Thomas Fucaloro, author of The Only Gardening I Do is When I Give Up

Author Information

MARIA LISELLA is the sixth Queens Poet Laureate; and the recipient of a Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets in 2020. During her fellowship she led poetry workshops for underserved communities throughout the Queens Public Library system, the Greater Astoria Historical Society, Heights and Hills in Brooklyn, the Isamu Noguchi Museum, SAGE through Teachers and Writers Collaborative, York College, and the Writers Guild Initiative.Her collections include Thieves in the Family (NYQ Books); and two chapbooks, Amore on Hope Street (Finishing Line Press), and Two Naked Feet (Poets Wear Prada). Twice nominated for the Pushcart Poetry Prize, her work has appeared in: Big City Lit, Chronogram, First Literary Review-East, Lily Poetry Review, LIPS, Maintenant, Mom Egg Review, New Verse News, Paterson Literary Review, NY Quarterly, New York Writers Institute's Trolley, Presence: A Journal of Catholic Poetry, Shabdaguchha, Skidrow Penthouse, The Ekphrastic Review, The New York Times, and Verse Virtual. Her essays, poetry, and short stories have been anthologized in A Feast of Narrative (Vol. 1); Avanti Popolo, Brownstone Poets; Common Unity; ECHOES of Growing Up Italian; From Somewhere to Nowhere - The End of the American Dream; Long Island Sounds; #Me Too, Anch' io; NYC through the Eyes of the Poets Who Live Here; Poets of Queens; Stronger Than Fear: Poems of Empowerment, Compassion, and Social Justice; Sweet Lemons 2: International Writings with a Sicilian Accent; The Traveler's Vade Mecum; and What Does It Mean to Be White in America? She co-curates the Italian American Writers Association readings in New York, and is a contributor to La Voce di New York, Never Stop Traveling and other travel publications.Featured on The Poet and the Poem at the Library of Congress, Cultural Daily and the Local-Express Queens Gazette, she won first prize in the Venera Fazio Poetry Contest sponsored by the Association of Italian Canadian Writers, and third prize in the Amilcare Solferini International Literary Competition. Her work has been translated into Albanian, French, Italian, and Korean.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available