August 10, 2004

Boise State's Ahsahta Press Announces New Poetry Collection

Saving the Appearances, a book of poetry by Liz Waldner of Oakland, Calif., has been published by Ahsahta Press at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. “Liz Waldner is one of the most exciting poets writing today,” said Janet Holmes, director of the press. “She’s won multiple awards for her work, including the James Laughlin Prize from the Academy of American Poets. I’m very pleased that Ahsahta has been able to bring out this new book.” Saving the Appearances is the poet’s sixth full-length collection. Holmes quoted the critic Stephen Burt, who wrote of Waldner, “no contemporary poet shows more wild individuality, more gusto [‘truth of character…in the highest degree in which the subject is capable’—Hazlitt] than Liz Waldner. She has become one of the most convincing and most inspiring of our poets.” In this excerpt from her poem “Yes and No,” Waldner bears out his assessment: “My heart still skips its beats./I want a hand to feel my ribs/and like them and what’s underneath/A hand not mine./A hand not Adam’s./Not God’s whose hurts./The sky is the color of last light on water./Too much silver. /My back hurts./Trees out the window, too still. Saving the Appearances recounts a quest for wholeness, Holmes said, and the Truth that abides in and reveals the heart. Seeking to discover “the true form of the edifice of the world,” a building both containing and accounting for — saving — the appearances encountered on the way, the poems evince the mystery of the act of seeing, beauty of the natural world, and power of the longing that engenders its contemplation, said Holmes. Ahsahta, Mandan Indian for “Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep,” has produced 65 volumes over its 29 years of publishing, including books by poets Dan Beachy-Quick, Linda Bierds, Lisa Fishman, Graham Foust and Lance Phillips. The Sawtooth Poetry Prize, inaugurated in 2002, awards $1,500 for the best manuscript submitted to Ahsahta Press each year. The press is directed by Janet Holmes, who also directs Boise State’s Master of Fine Arts program. Saving the Appearances will be available at the Boise State Bookstore, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725; from Small Press Distribution (http://www.spdbooks.org); or from Ahsahta Press at http://www.boisestate.edu/english/ahsahta . -30- Saving the Appearance, by Liz Waldner ISBN 0-916272-79-6 paper 6x8 inches, 94 pages, $12.95 Contact Janet Holmes, director Ahsahta Press Boise State University 208 426-2195 jholmes@boisestate.edu  Media Contact Kathleen Craven communications and marketing 208 426-3275 kcraven@boisestate.edu