The poems in James Najarian's debut collection are by turns tragic and mischievous, always with an exuberant attention to form. Najarian turns his caprine eye to the landscapes and history of Berks Country, Pennsylvania, and to the middle east of his extended Armenian family. These poems examine our bonds to the earth, to animals, to art and to desire.
JAMES NAJARIAN grew up on a goat farm near Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He received his BA and PhD from Yale University and teaches nineteenth-century literature at Boston College, where he edits the scholarly journal Religion and the Arts. His poem "The Dark Ages" received the Frost Farm Poetry Prize in Metrical Poetry.
"]O]ne of the most promising and cleanly written books of poetry to have been published of late. . . . From frolicking goats to frolicsome boys, to the architecture of a land he grew up in and personal memories of family and self, Najarian's The Goat Songs, does something rare: it simply sings."--The Armenian Mirror-Spectator "Following the curious criss-crossing goat paths of history and tragedy, family legend and personal narrative, desires of the body and geographical longings, James Najarian is a namer of things, whether the flocks of yesteryear, or the furnishings of the physical world. In blank verse, free verse, stanzas and syllabics rhymed with delicate quirkiness, the poems of The Goat Songs are sure-footed and nimble. These poems may be beautiful, but beauty isn't what they are after exactly, rather something equally potent and subversive: pleasure."--A.E. Stallings, author of Olives and judge "In The Goat Songs, James Najarian weaves disparate elements together to keep the past from becoming utterly lost. Whether it is rural Pennsylvania, the touch of an ex-lover, or one's own mature heart unsure of itself, Najarian illuminates the world with finely chosen details burnished by memory. This is a stunning book that reminds us 'Here is the ancient scent of fruit and wet; / it is where you come from.'"--C. Dale Young, author of The Halo "Najarian's imagery and verbal music are so powerful that I find myself, after putting down the book, haunted by specific unforgettable phrases. He has composed a strong, subtle book rich with 'the shit-and-lemon cologne' of our delicious, disappointing life, as both body and spirit know and treasure it."--Rhina P. Espaillat, 2001 recipient of the Richard Wilbur Award "Exact and exquisitely forged, the poems in The Goat Songs remind us memory is a bittersweet homecoming. A childhood spent on a farm, queerness, the Armenian diaspora, and familial pain and loss are rendered in language blazing with astute details and richly patterned phrasing. Remembrance, of course, makes visible what's been lost. In a lesser poet's hands, memory can become maudlin, static. James Najarian transfigures the past into music that sustains and astonishes."--Eduardo C. Corral, author of Slow Lightning "James Najarian writes about the real and makes it astonishing, while never leaving out the messy facts. . . . As a collection, the poems offer a wide range of theme, form, and language. But what underlies them all is the ability to show the real, plus a little bit more."--Claremont Review of Books "It is an inspired collection rooted in cultural heritage, introspection, and nature. It offers cultural history and identity, all stemming from a unique childhood on a goat farm, a farm which proves that life can be absurd, yet always fulfilling."--New York Journal of Books
