Talking Diamonds

New Issues Press
Kalamazoo, MI
2009

The typical poem in this beautiful collection by Linda Nemec Foster, her eighth book, is quiet, elegant, and wise. These poems do not shout; they whisper – about aging and dying, a mother’s frightful dementia (the mother no longer recognizes her daughter and calls her “Mom”), deformed children who are nevertheless a gift, and dead stars whose light still travels to us. They are filled with small, uncanny observations, for instance, the demented mother saying “What a glorious burden” to the living room wall. It is the poet’s gift of compassion that makes such poems not only bearable, but a pleasure to read.

“…where the sun braids the hair of comets
where the moon learns to write its name
where everything begins and nothing ends”

from the poem, “Trinity”

Notable Review

“In ‘Vision,’ one of many arresting poems in Talking Diamonds, Linda Nemec Foster’s protagonist sees Our Lady of Guadalupe in an unlikely Hawaiian setting. Half-waking from reverie, she recognizes that the Virgin is in fact tattooed, front and back, on a native man: ‘And you tell yourself this isn’t a miracle,’ she writes, ‘only a tattoo; this isn’t anything/extraordinary, only your life…’ But that is precisely what makes her new collection so compelling: from what Wordsworth called the simple produce of the common day—a child’s piano recital, a family photograph, a wretched piece of motel art—Foster exacts an energy that is, precisely, visionary, even miraculous. This is an effort so widespread in contemporary poetry as itself to seem a commonplace, and one that generally fails. Not so in Talking Diamonds, which challenges, intrigues, awes, and ultimately gratifies, poem after excellent poem.”

Sydney Lea

News

Linda Nemec Foster reads with Anne-Marie Oomen on the Subject of Mothers

Linda will read poems from her books, The Blue Divide and Talking Diamonds, on the subject of mothers. She’ll also be sharing new work on this theme. Linda will be joined by Anne-Marie Oomen who will be reading prose from her new book of creative non-fiction. Schuler Books 2660 28th St. SE Grand Rapids, MI […]

WHY I WRITE – by Linda Nemec Foster

Linda Nemec Foster’s essay is featured on the website, Write Across Chicago, which is sponsored by the Illinois Writing Project based at Northeastern Illinois University. A member of the Society of Midland Authors, Linda is the only non-Illinois resident featured on the website. To read the full article, please click here! WHY I WRITE – […]

Linda Nemec Foster featured on the Poetry Foundation’s Website

Below is an excerpt from the Poetry Foundation’s Website: Linda Nemec Foster is the author of 11 collections of poetry, including The Lake Michigan Mermaid (Wayne State University Press, 2018), coauthored with Anne-Marie Oomen; Talking Diamonds (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2009); and Amber Necklace from Gdańsk (Louisiana State University Press, 2001). Her work has […]

Book review of Talking Diamonds

A Review of Talking Diamonds, Linda Nemec Foster’s new collection of poems. By Oriana Ivy The typical poem in this beautiful collection by Linda Nemec Foster, her eighth book, is quiet, elegant, and wise. These poems do not shout; they whisper – about aging and dying, a mother’s frightful dementia (the mother no longer recognizes […]

Linda Nemec Foster’s poetry collection ‘Talking Diamonds’ sparkles with brilliance

“Talking Diamonds” proves to be a fitting title for Linda Nemec Foster’s latest collection of poetry as the poems within sparkle with brilliance. Honored as a finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s 2010 Book of the Year Award in Poetry, “Talking Diamonds” is arguably Foster’s strongest collection yet — quite a feat for Grand Rapids’ former poet […]

Review of Linda Nemec Foster’s Talking Diamonds

Talking Diamonds Linda Nemec Foster New Issues, 2009 Review by Jeanne Lesinski Featuring a sprouting amaryllis bulb, a handful of seashells, and a holy card of  the Virgin and Child—all bathed in red—the cover of Talking Diamonds sets the tone for the many somber poems in this, Foster’s ninth collection. Other books by Foster, who was named the first […]

Accolades

YearHonorPrizeDescription
2010FinalistForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award in Poetry Foster’s book, Talking Diamonds, honored as a finalist by ForeWord Magazine.
2009-2010 Nominee Ohio Book Award

Society of Midland Authors Book Award

American Book Award

Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award in Poetry

W.C. Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America

Book award nominations for Talking Diamonds

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