Gifted Writers

A book is something of a perfect gift: it expresses the taste of the giver, reflects the passions of the receiver, and loops in the perspective of the author, reminding us that the world is always bigger than we see. These two new releases by local authors, which both boast the fullness of life itself, are guaranteed to deliver joy and fresh thinking—even if you’re gifting yourself.

Words On Fire

A clever poetry collection often begins with a poem that tells us a lot about the journey we’re about to take. Burn, the ninth collection of poetry by Guggenheim fellow and Kate Tufts Award–winning writer (and anchor of Tallahassee’s powerhouse writing scene) Barbara Hamby, opens with “Ode on Luck,” a poem shimmering with contrasts: highs and lows of experience, language, and tone are a hallmark of Hamby’s work, and in Burn, life is both exquisite and excruciating. “That’s the thing about Lady Luck,” Hamby writes, “she can show up dressed in rags, smoking a corncob pipe, / and reappear twenty years later looking like Glinda / in The Wizard of Oz, it being a matter of interpreting / your own life to yourself, which is what I’m doing / every day—translating my own language into an English / that drives a spear into my heart.” The word “burn” itself conjures many meanings: rage or passion, an insult or lasting impression, a wound or a cozy campfire. And every raging fire begins with a spark, which in this case is the ode—a form Hamby employs to sing this sizzling, searing world. It’s even sharper from Burn’s distinctly (and divinely) feminine perspective.

Small Town Joy

Annie B. Jones, owner of Thomasville literary staple The Bookshelf, makes her authorial debut with Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put. This full-length collection of short nonfiction essays showcases Jones’ wisdom and keen observations on relationships, work, community, and the ever-important things we do for fun. It’s fitting that in a book about making home home, the page feels like the perfect home for Jones’ voice; at first, the white page might seem like a simple medium—like Thomasville, the geographic heart of Ordinary Time might feel like a simple place to live—but Jones’ words and stories bloom on and out of the page. “Staying means blooming where you’re planted,” Jones writes. Like a trailing vine, each story is another leaf, covering each vital part of a life worth living. But Jones warns that “this isn’t a tutorial on how to stay.” What you can expect instead is the evidence that a small town can be as rich in experience as a big city, and life will happen where it’s destined to happen.