Poetry Rules

"Wherever Art is going she will follow suit pregnant and barefoot from the balcony/ in due time." ( from Never Thirty-Seven ) What I Am Working On After the release of   They Talk About Death , my first US-published chapbook, last July by Blood Pudding Press ,  I am currently working on some translations projects--that is translations into Italian of poems by Alejandro Murguía , current San Francisco Poet Laureate as well as editing and translating an  New Anthology of American Poets . I am also always working on my main WIP, that is poet Jack Hirschman 's biography, which is indeed a beautiful and demanding experience. Writing about a contemporary poet's life and work takes a long time not only in terms of writing but requires so much research, too. I cannot but recognize how this work is constantly shaping my writing and is enriching me in way I find hard to express. Last but not least, there are always new poems I am working on--whether for specific chapbooks ...

So, it has happened at last. I am so happy of having a chapbook of my poems published in the US. It is a dream come true. It is almost a great act of hybris for somebody whose mother tongue is Italian, but who has dwelled in the English language since the age of 8 when she lived abroad for 5 years--in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates--attending American and International schools. I write poetry in Italian as well naturally but, I do believe that I write my best poems  in English. I hope this will not sound conceited. Honestly, I just look at some of my poems from this collection and think to myself that they make me proud. I guess I can say that a hint to how "good" one of the poems is came from a rejection that John Rosenwald, Co-editor of Beloit Poetry Journal  mailed to me: Dear Alessandra Bava, At our quarterly editorial board meeting that concluded yesterday we spent considerable time discussing your work, especially "Never Thirty-Seven" and "...