Literary estate of Mike Amado

Reviews

And if I were to cut the thread,/it’ll be my best act of rebellion./I was brought up to be a fighter. Mike Amado was the bravest of poets. Not only for his writing, but also for the way he lived. He took on his doomed life with poetry of honesty and hope. The few times I was fortunate to meet him he was, outwardly, a happy man, not mutually exclusive from his suffering. Moreover he was a deep thinker and writer of great poetry. He truly was a fighter for those who needed a champion and against the illness to which he finally succumbed. His legacy is that bravery, his poetic career and this book of poems. -- Zvi A. Sesling, author King of the Jungle & Editor, Muddy River Poetry Review The Book of Arrows. No kidding. Mike Amado filled his quiver, took aim, and let these poems fly like his life depended on it. It did. An arrow for a childhood of poverty where he slept in the living room so he dreamed on the pillow/ just underneath a picture of cats on a fence. An arrow for school which he loathed, often sick, embarrassed in pants from the irregular store , so he learned to learn on my own. An arrow for the dad who left him with only his name so he took his Native name Spider Song because Native custom says that name/passes from mother to child. Arrows for an awkward adolescence of denim jackets, tight jeans, mohawks, and heavy metal all beaten on his teenage passion, the drums! An arrow for European invaders, protesting, dressing and dancing in used regalia at the pow wow. Arrow after arrow for the disease that chased him down from the age of seventeen, challenging death, Who says the story ends? Who says indeed and Mike Amado wasn’t giving in without having his say. I never understood when someone called a poet or poem brave. These poems are not acts of bravery, the living of the life of these poems is what’s brave, a life of dreaming, loving, protesting, drumming, writing, standing on stage as the Spoken Word Warrior. David R. Surette, poet, author of The Immaculate Conception Mothers’ Club Mike Amado has left us an astounding body of work that is both insightful and unsettling. Each poem reads like a memoir tinged with an a keen awareness of the unspoken. /'Michael, from the Hebrew,/ Who is like God,'/an Archangel with a sword." To call his work compelling is an understatement. Mike's poems live. Mike's poems sing. January Gill O’Neil, author of Underlife, select by Poets & Writers, 2010 as one of twelve poets for her debut book		Jack Scully was the co-founder with the late Mike Amado of two ongoing poetry venues in Plymouth, Massachusetts , Poetry: The Art of Words a monthly poetry series and The Poetry Showcase a yearly poetry reading held in conjunction with the Plymouth Guild for the Arts yearly juried art show. Mike Amado published three books of poetry during his short time on this earth. Scully and poet Nancy Brady Cunningham have edited this, his fourth book. Scully, who currently serves as the literary executor of Mike’s work has read Mike's poetry as a feature reader at Greater Brockton Poetry and Arts Society, Boston National Poetry Month Festival, Main Street Café, Poetry in the Village, Stone Soup Poetry and Salem Literary Festival 2010. He also serves as the unofficial photographer of numerous poetry venues Nancy Brady Cunningham is a published poet and author of 5 books of non-fiction. Nancy has featured at many venues, including Boston’s First Night 2000 in Big Night at the Bookhouse at the Boston Public Library. Her international experience includes readings in Paris, Toronto, and Lesbos, Greece. She is the founding member of the poets’ theater troupe IYANU, which has performed in Cambridge at the Blacksmith House, Club Passim, and Squawk Coffee House, as well as in Easton at the Blackthorne Tavern. In April 2010, Nancy was one of 6 finalists for the New England Greater Brockton Society for Poetry and the Arts’ poetry contest held through the Brockton Public Library. In June 2010, Nancy read her poetry at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, along with Elizabeth McKim, Ottone and Dolores Riccio, and other members of Ottone’s poetry group. In August 2010, Nancy was the co-winner for first place in the New England Poetry Club’s contest for the Barbara Bradley Award. Also in 2010 Nancy was co-winner for first place in NEPC’s Gretchen Warren Award contest. The Warren Award is given for the best published poem of the previous year; Nancy also received honorable mention in the Gretchen Warren contest for a second published poem. .

Literary estate of Mike Amado

Reviews