Azaleas on Fire
by Gabrielle Langley
Click to purchase @ Sable Books
"These poems dance with a wild grace, a ferocity on the page that is both 'field of lilies/and swords.' Gabrielle Langley’s Azaleas on Fire is a collection needed in our historical moment, a prophetic tango to be reckoned with." -- Robin Davidson, Houston Poet Laureate, 2015-2017, author of Luminous Other
"In reading Azaleas on Fire, I am reminded that, in times of turmoil and disheartenment, all we want to hear is a voice that reassures us that the world will, eventually, be set right again. In these poems, this is precisely what we get. We mourn and we love; we hope and we despair. But regardless of the loss we encounter in these pages, we keep finding doses of courage and linguistic beauty at every turn. This is what Langley's poems do: they make us 'feel the birth of everything.' Reading her poetry is like 'lighting a candle against the dark." -- Octavio Quintanilla, San Antonio Poet Laureate, 2018-2020, author of If I Go Missing
"Gabrielle Langley and her poems dance entwined. Azaleas on Fire offers up an erotic magic that spans a past in Istanbul, Beirut, Paris climbing into the present. We eavesdrop on intimate confessions where flowers are called out, where scents are conjured among pages that drip tantalizing tastes. This is a book that commands our attention through delicately formed confrontations as well as fierce attacks that cut into cruelty. Her finely spun poems land on these pages ripe, robust and beautifully crafted." --Fran Sanders, Director of Public Poetry
"Though her poems are technically complex and layered, Langley’s execution feels effortless with no obscurities. Her lines are lean, yet packed with exotic, sensual imagery, and poetic moments that whisper Old World settings and personal history. Azaleas on Fire is fabric in motion, perfumed with dance and midnight." -- Chris Wise, author of Colliding with Orion
"Azaleas on Fire is a bouquet of elegant, sensual, and surprising poems that are so alive you’ll believe the flower names on the pages are emitting a fragrance. ... Rarely does a first book burn with such emotional power and craft... truly, it is 'a flower hidden in the ashes.” -- Carolyn Dahl, author of The Painted Door
"Gabrielle Langley takes us on a dance of language in her new collection of poems, Azaleas on Fire. The dance takes place out of urgency, saying only what needs to be said, which provides a tremendous amount of luminescence from these extremely well made poems. It is as if each poem is a flower petal that shadows over you, then falls, and lands deep inside... never to be forgotten." --John Milkereit, author of Drive the World in a Taxicab
"The poems that petal these pages are as powerful as they are beautiful, pulling up from deep roots. One can’t help but hear echoes of Neruda in its earthy and fragrant lyricism, revealing secrets that are 'deep blue,' drenched in 'moon-white skin' and candlelight. Every word is a seedling—a gift." -- Stacy R. Nigliazzo, author of Sky the Oar
by Gabrielle Langley
Click to purchase @ Sable Books
"These poems dance with a wild grace, a ferocity on the page that is both 'field of lilies/and swords.' Gabrielle Langley’s Azaleas on Fire is a collection needed in our historical moment, a prophetic tango to be reckoned with." -- Robin Davidson, Houston Poet Laureate, 2015-2017, author of Luminous Other
"In reading Azaleas on Fire, I am reminded that, in times of turmoil and disheartenment, all we want to hear is a voice that reassures us that the world will, eventually, be set right again. In these poems, this is precisely what we get. We mourn and we love; we hope and we despair. But regardless of the loss we encounter in these pages, we keep finding doses of courage and linguistic beauty at every turn. This is what Langley's poems do: they make us 'feel the birth of everything.' Reading her poetry is like 'lighting a candle against the dark." -- Octavio Quintanilla, San Antonio Poet Laureate, 2018-2020, author of If I Go Missing
"Gabrielle Langley and her poems dance entwined. Azaleas on Fire offers up an erotic magic that spans a past in Istanbul, Beirut, Paris climbing into the present. We eavesdrop on intimate confessions where flowers are called out, where scents are conjured among pages that drip tantalizing tastes. This is a book that commands our attention through delicately formed confrontations as well as fierce attacks that cut into cruelty. Her finely spun poems land on these pages ripe, robust and beautifully crafted." --Fran Sanders, Director of Public Poetry
"Though her poems are technically complex and layered, Langley’s execution feels effortless with no obscurities. Her lines are lean, yet packed with exotic, sensual imagery, and poetic moments that whisper Old World settings and personal history. Azaleas on Fire is fabric in motion, perfumed with dance and midnight." -- Chris Wise, author of Colliding with Orion
"Azaleas on Fire is a bouquet of elegant, sensual, and surprising poems that are so alive you’ll believe the flower names on the pages are emitting a fragrance. ... Rarely does a first book burn with such emotional power and craft... truly, it is 'a flower hidden in the ashes.” -- Carolyn Dahl, author of The Painted Door
"Gabrielle Langley takes us on a dance of language in her new collection of poems, Azaleas on Fire. The dance takes place out of urgency, saying only what needs to be said, which provides a tremendous amount of luminescence from these extremely well made poems. It is as if each poem is a flower petal that shadows over you, then falls, and lands deep inside... never to be forgotten." --John Milkereit, author of Drive the World in a Taxicab
"The poems that petal these pages are as powerful as they are beautiful, pulling up from deep roots. One can’t help but hear echoes of Neruda in its earthy and fragrant lyricism, revealing secrets that are 'deep blue,' drenched in 'moon-white skin' and candlelight. Every word is a seedling—a gift." -- Stacy R. Nigliazzo, author of Sky the Oar
Red Sky: Poetry anthology on the epidemic of violence against women
Edited by Melissa Hassard, Gabrielle Langley, and Stacy Nigliazzo
Including poetry by Tony Hoagland, Kevin Prufer, Naomi Shahib Nye, FadyJoudah, Melissa Stoddard, and others.
Click to purchase @ Sable Books
"Every shattered home. Every story worth telling"
--Naomi Shahib Nye
Edited by Melissa Hassard, Gabrielle Langley, and Stacy Nigliazzo
Including poetry by Tony Hoagland, Kevin Prufer, Naomi Shahib Nye, FadyJoudah, Melissa Stoddard, and others.
Click to purchase @ Sable Books
"Every shattered home. Every story worth telling"
--Naomi Shahib Nye
