A review by rainbowbrarian
Charles Coe: New and Selected Works by Charles Coe

emotional reflective

4.5

Charles Coe's writing is evocative and approachable.  It welcomes you into spaces in time and space that have gone by and live on in the collective minds and spirits of those who shared in them.  By hearing their stories and engaging with their works, we are invited to consider a different perspective.  I am no expert at talking about poetry, but I truly enjoyed reading this volume of his work.  From poems exploring his childhood and fraught relationships with his parents to poems about moments captured in time from trips on the MBTA to love letters to Ella Fitzgerald, to quiet observations on racism they transported me.  

I had the pleasure of attending a workshop run by Charles Coe at the Boston Book Festival in October 2024.  He read some of his works for us and guided us through some poetry prompts.  The workshop was called Jumpstart your poetry and it was a genuinely wonderful experience.  I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to hear him teach and read his poetry to us in his own voice.  

It made me feel like I could write as well.  And I so appreciated the chance to engage with him.