Maria Mazziotti Gillan écrit avec une honnêteté pénétrante sur la vie quotidienne et la famille. Sa poésie explore souvent les thèmes de l'identité, de l'héritage et de la résilience de l'esprit humain. Gillan capture magistralement la complexité des relations et des expériences culturelles. Ses vers sont accessibles mais profondément résonnants.
Facing the profound realities of mortality, Maria Mazziotti Gillan reflects on her personal journey through grief following her husband Dennis's long illness and death. The narrative explores themes of forgiveness, guilt, and grace, drawing parallels between personal loss and global crises such as war and climate change. With unwavering courage, Gillan invites readers to confront their own struggles, providing insight and meaning to life's inevitable challenges, ultimately transforming personal battles into shared experiences that resonate universally.
What I hope to accomplish in this book is to give writing prompts that will help you to get past all the outside influences that keep you from believing in yourself and in your ability to write. In order to write, you need to get rid of notions about language, poetic form, and esoteric subject matter ? all the things that the poetry police have told you are essential if you are to write. I wanted to start from a different place, a place controlled by instinct rather than by intelligence. Revision, the shaping and honing of the poem, should come later, and, in revising, care always needs to be taken to retain the vitality and electricity of the poem. Anyone can learn to craft a capable poem, but it is the poems that retain that initial vitality that we remember; these are the poems that teach us how to be human.
Exploring the intricate dynamics of race in America, this collection features powerful narratives from renowned authors such as Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, Sandra Cisneros, Sherman Alexie, and Amy Tan. Each story delves into personal and societal experiences, shedding light on the complexities of identity, culture, and the ongoing struggle for understanding and equality. Through diverse perspectives, the book offers a profound reflection on the multifaceted nature of race and its impact on individuals and communities.
Exploring themes of resilience and identity, this memoir recounts the life of an immigrant girl in 1950s Paterson, NJ. Through the lens of her experiences as a wife, mother, daughter, and activist, the author reflects on the enduring strength shaped by grief and loss. With a blend of humor and optimism, the narrative celebrates the beauty of survival and the connections to the past, suggesting that even in harsh conditions, remarkable growth can emerge, much like flowers blooming in winter.
Poetry. The place that Maria Mazziotti Gillan calls home is a universal haven built of enduring memories and peopled by loving family. In Gillan's newest book of poetry, THE PLACE I CALL HOME, we share her complex emotions of an immigrant childhood in Paterson, New Jersey, in the 1950s, her long marriage, her husband's devastating illness, and her subsequent widowhood. Yet, we also share the sheltering family in which she grew up, the deep love binding her and her husband, the unfolding of her life as a mother and grandmother, and, most of all, her resilient spirit. She reminds us that even when the bud of youthful na?vet? flowers into the reality of an uncaring universe, we are home again when we recall the protection we felt within the warm sanctuary of family. These poems are beautiful crystalline narratives, sometimes exuberant and sometimes poignant, but always unflinchingly true. "THE PLACE I CALL HOME by Maria Mazziotti Gillan contains some of the most honest poems about marriage and family a reader is likely ever to come across. The craft is there, the well chosen word or phrase, but the power of these poems comes also from the truth in them that is moving and rare."--Marge Piercy
