Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (November 16, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626198101
ISBN-13: 978-1626198104
Had I not met Thom Nickels at a cocktail party in Philadelphia, I probably would not have heard of his book, Literary Philadelphia: A History of Poetry and Prose in the City of Brotherly Love. I’m glad for the meeting, and for having read Literary Philadelphia. I learned things without realizing I was being taught. Mr. Nickels tracks the arc of literature in Philadelphia, from its colonial past to the present, with insights that few authors attempt. This book is not some catalogue of what Thomas Paine or Pearl Buck said, and where, but rather a look at the people behind the words. For example, in 2011 Sonia Sanchez, then seventy-one, was named Philadelphia’s first poet laureate. Her path to that honor is a story all its own. I’d never heard of Sanchez, author of twelve volumes of poetry, one of which is, Does Your House Have Lions?. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by that title? There are 146 pages in Literary Philadelphia: A History of Poetry and Prose in the City of Brotherly Love. Every one is a nugget.
*Also available as an e-book.
