Description
Poetry. African American Studies. "Grace Ocasio's poems embrace their subjects with a photographic clarity and a chic sense of style. Whether she is mining 'the unmistakable depth' of Garbo's face, or musing in wonder at Angela Davis' hair, 'more lavish / than a Carmen Miranda headpiece,' she taps into the iconic power of her images in order to draw strength from them and offer it to us. These bracing poems celebrate everything from nature to history, to the family, to the famous—and in each, she discovers the music and meaning that lets them bloom in all their strangeness and surprise."—Elaine Equi
"Grace Ocasio is a new and exciting voice in American poetry, and one that deserves a wide and appreciative audience. In this collection from BlazeVOX [books] we are treated to a view of just how wide-ranging and powerful Ocasio's work is."—Jesse Glass
"These are wonderously wrought and craftwise poems!—but 'crafty' too. Grace Ocasio's new collection, THE SPEED OF OUR LIVES, is cleverly disguised in the formal and biographical. Within, you'll hear Holiday's voice, Garland's, but, most of all, listen for Grace Ocasio's marked song of rugged spoken-out-ness. I warn you: these are smart poems, but the facts ain't always the truth, so watch out for this poet's storied, brave, slant-light."—Kate Knapp Johnson
"One has only to read the Acknowledgements Page to realize the astonishing breadth of Grace Ocasio's interests and the variety of places her work has been published as well as awards she has won. The Table of Contents is equally impressive, showing poems embracing myth, history ancient and modern, happenings worldwide and close to home, characters from many cultures. The first section alone focuses on Ruth and Naomi, Esther, Pocahontas, Anne Frank, Audrey Hepburn, Angela Davis, Michelle Obama, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, and Alondra de la Parra. Research can provide facts about these people, but only the powerful imagination of the poet can recreate their world and take us back with her into their lives."—Ann Deagon
Author Bio
A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Grace C. Ocasio's second full-length volume of poetry, FAMILY REUNION, received honorable mention in the Quercus Review Press Fall 2017 Book Award Contest. She also placed as a finalist in the 2016 Aesthetica Creative Writing Award in Poetry and was a recipient of the 2014 North Carolina Arts Council Regional Artist Project Grant. Her first full-length collection, THE SPEED OF OUR LIVES, was published by BlazeVOX [books] in 2014. She has published poetry in Rattle, Court Green, Black Renaissance Noire, The Chaffin Journal, Minerva Rising, and many other journals. Her chapbook, Hollerin from This Shack, was published by Ahadada Books in 2009. Ocasio is a member of the Carolina African American Writers' Collective, and recently served as an adjunct professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Author City: CHARLOTTE, NC USA