PAULA NEWCOMER DEBUTED HER POETRY BOOK AT
BOOKFEST ASBURY PARK
sponsored by Asbury Pulp, words! Book Store, and The Showroom.
Paula Newcomer tells us, “In my new poetry book, TOSSING OFF THE GLOVES, I write about living and raising kids and lots of crazy animals on our 15-acre mini-farm in Lakewood –yes, Lakewood, New Jersey! before a new development took over all the farms in our area, and we moved to the shore, near Asbury.”
“I include poems about my relationship to language and words – one of my favorites inspired by the Minke whale we saw beached in Provincetown, and how my muse failed me that day. I also write about loss, having worked hard to ‘understand, forgive and heal’ following the suicides (still a taboo topic for many) of two members of my family.”
“‘Spirit‘ is dedicated to my friend, Bart, who died of AIDS in 1995, just before the cocktail of pharmaceuticals began to keep people alive. In this collection I also include poems from the heartland of Kansas and Colorado, my roots, and what has sustained me through my years of writing.”
Paula teaches journal writing workshops at Mary’s Place, a retreat along the Jersey shore in Ocean Grove for women recovering from cancer. She will be giving a portion of her proceeds for the day at Bookfest to the “amazing women who come to rest and rejuvenate there, and the dedicated staff and volunteers who work there.”
Frank Finale, author of To The Shore Once More and the anthology,The Poets of New Jersey, says, “Paula’s poems are firmly rooted in the small details of nature, ‘…each/hairlike seedling, each one knowing/what it will become…’ from ‘Seedlings.’ Having lived on a small farm, she is attuned to the wonders of nature and incorporates her fine observations into a bouquet of poems for the readers. One of my favorites is a short, wistful poem ‘Spirit.’ Like the rest of her poems, its clarity, simplicity (in the best sense of the word) and vision make it a joy to read.”