David Joel Friedman (1939-2021)

We here at Augury Books wish to celebrate the life of poet David Joel Friedman, who won the 2012 Augury Books Editors’ Prize with his poetry collection, Soldier Quick With Rain.

Sadly, David passed away earlier this week.

Below you’ll find a loving tribute from his friend and fellow poet Geoffrey Nutter, included here with his permission.

But first, here’s a short excerpt from David’s poem “Having Said That”:

“Having said that, let me say this. It is too soon to be a number-cruncher. It is too late to be a second-guesser. But it is right on time to be a hedgehog. Indeed the blue sky is a skein.”

With much respect & admiration, The Editors

Arisa White interviewed by Matthew Zapruder at The Adroit Journal

The Possibility the Horizon Grants: A Conversation With Arisa White

“[W]hat I’ve come to realize is that through poetry I am charting the inner life, and often traces of that linger as object, in memory, in historical record. So now, I must investigate my own inner life and the inner lives of those around me. This is where that poetic impulse takes over, to wonder, turn over, feel and draw connections. When I’m reconstructing an inner life, my own included, I’m using my body as the verb—the is, to be—in metaphoric equations. It is through my metaphors that I’m better able to tell an emotional truth that often goes unnoticed.” (read more)