I received some information from Brendan Hamilton, a former participant in TOCWOC’s Top 5 Civil War books contest, about his new book of Petersburg Campaign poetry, entitled Jerusalem Plank Road. Since I run a Petersburg Campaign web site, how could I resist telling you about this new book? 🙂
Jerusalem Plank Road is due out today, April 2, 2010, at Lulu.com, in honor of the 145th anniversary of the Petersburg Breakthrough.
Jerusalem Plank Road is a book of poetry that examines the Petersburg Campaign of the American Civil War from a variety of perspectives, forming a fragmented, shuffled narrative through the hidden spaces of the past. The book is illustrated with images taken from details of photographs in the Library of Congress’s Civil War collection. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to nonprofit organizations that benefit American veterans and their families. Jerusalem Plank Road is introduced by Jarvis Fosdick, a visual artist and landscape architect.
About the author:
Brendan Hamilton lives in Louisville, Colorado with his wife, Kris and their dog, Oliver. A lifelong student of the Civil War, Brendan is a recent graduate of Naropa University’s M.F.A. Writing & Poetics program. He also has a B.A. in history from the College of William & Mary. This is his first book of poetry.
About Durga Press:
“Durga” for the foothills of the mountains: a goddess of that, versus deeper in. A verge, correlating to Punjab and Colorado. Similar terrain. I am the founder of this press but not its editor or physical publisher. The writer makes their own book. Wanted to make a place where the history and geography of this country might appear, because I am a citizen. A new citizen, and wondered what a press of that would be. Brendan Hamilton writes on the civil war; his poems are accompanied by an essay/interview by Jarvis Fosdick, a landscape architect. I do not align myself with the aesthetics of either writer/architect. Durga doesn’t care about that. Durga wants books like tigers, the tiger Durga rides upon: to appear, and pounce. I hope this pounces on you. — Bhanu Kapil. Loveland, Colorado: March 27th, 2010
