Outstanding Creator Awards
  • Home
  • Winners- 2025 Spring Contest
  • About
  • Reviews
  • 2024 BOTY Awards
  • Winners- 2024 Clash of Champions
  • Winners- 2024 Summer Contest
  • Winners- 2024 Creator Classic
  • 2023 BOTY Awards
  • Winners- Clash of Champions 2023
  • Winners- Spring 2023
  • Winners- Winter 2023
  • 2022 BOTY Awards
  • Winners- Fall 2022
  • Winners- Summer 2022
  • Winners- Spring 2022
  • Winners- Winter 2021-2022
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy

Editorial Reviews for Nominees 
​(May Contain Spoilers and Affiliate Links) 

Review of “Poems from Heartlands” by Dr. C.A. Buckley

8/2/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)

Wow! We're impressed! Poems from Heartlands by Dr. C.A. Buckley is a masterful, sophisticated, elegant collection of poems. We have no choice but to give it our highest-ever rating for a poetry book.

These poems show a level of refinement that we've rarely seen. It seems clear that Dr. Buckley is an experienced writer and poet. She has been sharpening her sword and honing her craft for years if not decades. We'd be shocked if this were her first rodeo.

So, what makes us say all of this praise? Well, the answer is complicated. For one, Dr. Buckley really understands meter, consistency, repetition, and beats. She demonstrates a mastery of these things.

In terms of meter and consistency, at least 80% of these poems (by our estimation) are beautifully tight and symmetrical. What exactly does that mean? Well, that means that ultimately means that they're well-structured and consistently structured. When the poet picks tercets, she sticks to tercets (as in “Villanelle”). When the poet picks quatrains, she sticks to quatrains (as in “The Ballad of the Swimming Dog”--arguably the best poem in the book). When the poet chooses to alternate between sestets and quatrains, she sticks to alternating between sestets and quatrains (as in “Death of a Populist”).

Very rarely (if ever) do you find “orphaned” lines or words that just stick out like a sore thumb like in other poems out there. You do get times when the poet uses long stanzas, then sandwiches single lines between them for emphasis (as in “Hair”--a poem that says a lot more beyond its simple subject matter—and “To Scellig Michael with Aine”).

In terms of repetition, look at the poem titled “Villanelle.” It hinges on the constant and consistent repetition of the motif “Life in itself is not enough.” This line occurs over and over again with new or evolving contexts. This is also masterfully executed in “To Scellig Michael with Aine.”

There's no simple explanation for most of these poems, the interpretation is up to the reader. That's arguably the way poetry should be.

The only thing we sorta didn't like about the book was the art including the cover. The art looks like doodles and doesn't match the regal, sophisticated, refined tone of the poems in the book. At the same time, this art is accompanied by hand-written parts of the poems. This might help the book to seem “lived in” and “effortful.” It's similar to when you see the sketches of Disney characters before their movies were released. It helps you to appreciate the journey and process. This is also the third-most religious poetry book we've read in the last three months, so keep that in mind as well.

You can check this out on Amazon!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Winners- 2025 Spring Contest
  • About
  • Reviews
  • 2024 BOTY Awards
  • Winners- 2024 Clash of Champions
  • Winners- 2024 Summer Contest
  • Winners- 2024 Creator Classic
  • 2023 BOTY Awards
  • Winners- Clash of Champions 2023
  • Winners- Spring 2023
  • Winners- Winter 2023
  • 2022 BOTY Awards
  • Winners- Fall 2022
  • Winners- Summer 2022
  • Winners- Spring 2022
  • Winners- Winter 2021-2022
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy