This week’s other featured books, “She Never Told Me About the Ocean,” by Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, “I Mean You No Harm,” by Beth Castrodale and “You’re Pretty Gay,” by Drew Pisarra, can be found by scrolling down below this post, or by clicking the author’s name on our Authors page.
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THE BOOK: Blood Memory.
PUBLISHED IN: 2020
THE AUTHOR: Gail Newman.
THE EDITOR: Eileen Tabios.
THE PUBLISHER: Marsh Hawk Press.
SUMMARY: Blood Memory is about my family and parents, Polish Holocaust survivors. The poems are in three sections. The first takes place in Poland during WW II. The second part tells the story of their marriage and life in the U.S. The final section is a series of elegies The themes of the poems encompass memory, immigration, assimilation, and the legacy and impact of genocide on the second generation. Blood Memory is a eulogy to the dead and a tribute to the survivors, a story of courage and hope.
THE BACK STORY: These poems, in bits and pieces of memory, have been in me all of my life, but I didn’t start writing them until sometime after my father passed away, when I started writing about him. I worked on poems during the span of 4 years, during which time I also went to Poland to research my family and see for myself the places they spoke about.
When I completed the manuscript, I entered a number of contests sponsored by small press poetry book publishers. Then I began to wait. I expected to wait a long time. I thought I would continue to submit the following year. One morning I received an email from Marsh Hawk Press asking for a hard copy of my manuscript. Because I was among the finalists, my book would be read by the judge, Marge Piercy. This alone was an honor. I was surprised and thrilled to receive an email a few weeks later saying that I was the winner and that Marge Piercy had chosen my book.
And it is a coincidence, not only that the book was published during the 75th anniversary year of the end of WW II, but also that this is a time in history when antisemitism and racial hatred are on the rise.
WHY THIS TITLE?: Blood Memory refers to the memories that are carried from one generation to another, in the body, the mind, and the heart. Blood refers to the war that my parents survived as well as what is passed on from one generation to the next— ancestry, cultural heritage, memory. So much of what we remember may be hazy, unclear. What really happened? What is altered by time? Sometimes I’m not sure if what I remember is true or something told to me. So much is forgotten. Everyone has a story, and each story is important.
WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO READ IT? This is a family story, of hardship and love. It is ultimately a story of hope and resilience. During hard times, I remember my parents and what they endured. The past tells us who we are and gives us strength.
Marge Piercy wrote of Blood Memory, “Those who deny what happened multiply. To make fresh powerful poems rooted in Shoah is amazing. She does it by specifics. There are no faceless men in dirty ragged striped uniforms. The people are individualized.”
People can withstand the most horrific experiences and build meaningful and even joyful lives. We remember the Holocaust to honor the living and the dead. And we remember so that we will be vigilant and compassionate, so that we don’t stand idle when others, of any religion, culture or race, experience bigotry, hatred, or genocide.
We remember the Holocaust in the hope that it will never happen again in any nation, to any people. We want to remember the past, those who died, our heritage and our people. We want to remember so we can live with compassion. We remember so we will not stand as silent witness to others’ suffering.
REVIEW COMMENTS:
“Writing about the Holocaust can be difficult now, not that it was ever easy. It has become myth or something people use as a metaphor for something they object to: those who know, who went through it, are dying off. Those who deny what happened multiply. To make fresh powerful poems rooted in Shoah is amazing. She does it by specifics. There are no faceless men in dirty ragged striped uniforms. The people are individualized.” — Marge Piercy
“This is a book about collective memory, about the importance of story. …Newman…doesn’t flinch from brutality, yet she has achieved something extraordinary. Blood Memory is a testament to humanity. Despite the darkness, the light of the living shines through.” — Ellen Bass, Poet and Chancellor of Academy of American Poets.
“These poems salute high-risk comradery, war production sabotage, and extraordinary life-saving resilience in ghettos, camps, and post-liberation years… All of us—Jewish and Gentile alike—are in the poets’ debt as her art propels us forward. Would that our future never again gives cause for such a moving and unforgettable commemoration.” — Arthur. B. Shostak, Author of Stealth Altruism, Forbidden Jewish Resistance in the Holocaust
“(Newman) reminds the reader that history is bound to the present just as the present is bound to the future…Newman phenomenally grounds her emotions in a way that connects both to those she’s writing for, and those who she isn’t. We all know pain and trauma, but she forces us to think of it in a way that is outside of ourselves… A mesmerizing read, you won’t want to put this book of poetry down, finding yourself immersed in it and finishing it as quickly as you picked it up. — Amrit Abbasi, The Bellingham Review,
AUTHOR PROFILE: I was born after WW II in a displaced person’s camp in Lansberg, Germany. My parents are Polish Holocaust survivors, and I was raised in a community of Jewish immigrants in Los Angeles where my mother, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday, still lives.
I’ve worked as an educator at the San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum, and as a poet-teacher for California Poets in the Schools.
I co-founded and editor of Room, a Women’s Literary Journal, and edited Inside Out, a book of poetry lessons for teachers and two collections of children’s poems, C is for California and Dear Earth.
I divide my time between and Sebastopol, where I’m currently enjoying my garden of hollyhocks, Queen Anne’s lace, Shasta daisies and the gorgeous animals — fox, snakes, deer, and red-tailed hawks-that come to visit.
AUTHOR COMMENTS: People can withstand the most horrific experiences and build meaningful and even joyful lives. We remember the Holocaust to honor the living and the dead. And we remember so that we will be vigilant and compassionate, so that we don’t stand idle when others, of any religion, culture or race, experience bigotry, hatred, or genocide.
WHERE TO BUY IT: Blood Memory: Newman, Gail: 9780996991193: Amazon.com: Books
Blood Memory – Gail Newman : Small Press Distribution.
PRICE: $15.00.
LOCAL OUTLETS: Blood Memory: Newman, Gail: 9780996991193: Amazon.com: books.
Blood Memory – Gail Newman : Small Press Distribution.
PRICE: $15.00.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR for signed copies: http://www.gailnewmanpoet.com
Snowflakes in a Blizzard 