Waifs and Strays
Encyclopedia
Waifs and Strays is a book of poetry by Micah Ballard
Micah Ballard
Micah Ballard is a poet born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on September 23, 1975. Since 1999 he has lived in San Francisco with his wife, poet Sunnylyn Thibodeaux...
. The book was first published in 2011 by City Lights
City Lights Bookstore
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected titles related to San Francisco culture. It was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence...
and is part of the City Lights Spotlight Series.
Reception
Reviewing the book, Jeffrey Cyphers Wright from The Brooklyn RailThe Brooklyn Rail
The Brooklyn Rail is a political, artistic and literary magazine based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Coverage includes political andliterary essays, art criticism, interviews, original fiction and poetry, and reviews....
stated that "highly stylized, fairly experimental, and original, the poems rely on sequential 'disruption' underpinned by a solidly smoldering focus. The thematic transference of significance becomes a mantra of sustenance amidst an arranged wilderness, 'It is all imagined, anchored by the word.'" Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
further acknowledged the poet's style: "Though raised in Baton Rouge, La., Ballard now seems energetically tied to San Francisco, since his offhand intensities, fiercely casual stance, quick free verse, and colloquial mysticism draw so frequently on two great sources of Bay Area poetics, the prophetic concentration of Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan
-Arts:*Robert Duncan , American music critic*Robert Duncan , British TV actor*Robert Duncan , U.S. composer*Robert Duncan , U.S. poet-Politics:...
and the extroversion of the beats."