I just came across this review of my chapbook, Suburban Pastoral. Not sure when it ran, not sure how he got his hands on it. But that’s quite OK with me.
Suburban Pastoral is a collection of poems by Hank Kalet, who spends most of eir time editing newspapers in the New Jersey area, along with writing columns for The Progressive Populist. This is a chapbook containing Kalet’s works over the last few years. Voices of Reason, the imprint under which Kalet released this chapbook, “is an arts collective that seeks to raise money for organizations in central New Jersey working to alleviate hunger and aid the homeless”. So, with a good cause in mind, this chapbook was released. The poetry is strong, with Kalet attempting different things with seemingly every one of the twenty-plus poems here. Like chapbooks from larger imprints, there is nothing on a page besides the title, page number, and the poem. I’m not sure how I feel about that. While it is nice to show a professional side to small press imprints, perhaps a more graphic interpretation of certain phrases or lines would make this chapbook all the more impressive. Regardless, the poems in this work are poignant and interesting, devoid of triteness. Kalet is a good poet, and while this issue is small, the fact that this is “Number 1” may give hope to those individuals that wish to see subsequent issues of Suburban Pastoral or works from artists and poets in the Dayton, New Jersey area. If poetry is your thing, send along a donation of Voices of Reason and I’m sure they will send whatever things are currently out by the imprint. Here’s to hoping that this provides a revenue stream for their efforts.
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Hank Kalet 