Description: Poetry. Winner of the 2004 New Issues Poetry Prize. Judge: Rodney Jones. "Kevin Boyle's poems are edgy and sometimes gritty as they cut to the bone of human experience--love, fatherhood, and work. These stunning poems offer the sweep of history as well as the inward gaze. Like many of our favorite Irish and Irish-American poets, Boyle is a great storyteller, and narratives and incidents he records in the poems are unforgettable. The beautiful surfaces of his work often serve to make the water appear safe for the reader--all the while peril reigns below"--Stuart Dischell.
Review Quotes: "Boyle's poems are ambitious in form, theme, and style, but never merely egotistical. When they are not singing with a full-throated, operatic grace, they are telling memorable stories." -- Rodney Jones, judge