New Poetry Book by John Lee Clark
Announcing "Suddenly Slow: Poems" by John Lee Clark
For Immediate Release
Contact: pr@handtype.com
Suddenly Slow: Poems, by John Lee Clark. 32 pages. $8.
Available at www.handtype.com or www.amazon.com Or by mail to the address at the bottom
Minneapolis - Handtype Press recently released "Suddenly Slow: Poems," a limited edition chapbook that showcases sixteen poems by the award-winning deaf-blind poet, John Lee Clark. He was born deaf and became progressively blind in early adolescence. Some of his poems deal directly with deaf-blindness, while others are about broader topics but always with his unique, often playful perspective.
Through his poems, "Clark is making sense of a world that comes to him differently," says Morgan Grayce Willow, the author of two books of poetry.
"All we need do is place our trust in the crook of the arm of this DeafBlind poet; he then leads us into a world where 'there is no answer in sight.'
This is a world of broadened vision emerging from narrower sight, of heightened passion blossoming from experience at a slower pace. Each lyric along the journey into this poet's 'kind of light' rewards our trust."
Those who are deaf-blind, like Clark, are bound to identify intimately with his work. Doug Milligan, a deaf-blind poet and the author of "Dark-Silence,"
has this to say about his fellow poet: "I am honored to count John Lee Clark as one of my contemporaries in the poetry of the DeafBlind community. He writes such thoughtful, such fine poems that I really think everybody, everybody will enjoy them."
Unlike the work of some previous deaf-blind poets, Clark's poems hold genuine literary merit. Pia Taavila, who is professor of English at Gallaudet University and the author of "Moon on the Meadow" among other books, praises Clark's brilliant use of the English language.
She says "There are double layers and more of meaning in metaphors, in quick-minded word play and in the skill with which Clark describes the world as he 'sees' it." For these reasons, Taavila calls "Suddenly Slow" a "delicious" collection of poems that are "heartbreakingly beautiful."
Among Clark's accomplishments is being the first member of the signing community, deaf or deaf-blind, to be published in the prestigious magazine "Poetry," having a poem of his selected for and broadcast on the "Poem of the Day" radio program on Martha Stewart, and winning a Best Sports Poem prize from Kent State University. He was also featured at the Deaf Way II International Cultural Arts Festival. But his interest in poetry extends beyond his own work, as he has edited "Deaf American Poetry," the first definitive anthology of its kind and a significant contribution to the literary canon, which will be coming out this March from Gallaudet University Press.
Note from John: If you would like to order copies by mail, you can send a check to my address below. Just for $8 each copy, shipping free courtesy of my family with holiday greetings.
John Lee Clark
111 E. Kellogg Blvd. #3207
St. Paul, MN 55101