Poetry. WALKING BACKWARDS is a collection of longer prose poems in which life seems to lean into the absurd to laugh, while quietly relishing the beauty of a private thought. Loosely organized around an Italian-American theme, the characters and voices of these prose poems and short stories consider the merits of Fergus Falls, being a gladiator or a poet, 45-minute operas, and the quest for a "new hit song."

Author Hometown: WEST HARTFORD, CT USA



About the author: Dennis Barone is a Professor of English and Director of the American Studies Program at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut. A graduate of Bard College, he received his Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1992 he held the Thomas Jefferson Chair, a distinguished Fulbright lecturing award, in the Netherlands, and in 1997 he received the America Award for fiction. His many books include AMERICA/TRATTABILI (Bordighera Press, 2011), PARALLEL LINES (Shearsman Books, 2011), FIELD REPORT (Quale Press, 2011), NORTH ARROW (Quale Press, 2008), PRECISE MACHINE (Quale Press, 2006), THE WALLS OF CIRCUMSTANCE (Avec Books, 2004), TEMPLE OF THE RAT (Left Hand Books, 2000), and THE RETURNS (Sun & Moon Press, 1996).