Nearly 50 alumnae and friends sat at rapt attention in the Bender Room on Saturday afternoon of Reunion weekend, as six Mills authors read excerpts from their books. From the tale of a young
Egyptian queen who declared herself pharaoh of her land (His Majesty, Queen Hatshepsut, by Dorothy Carter, DFA ’42) to the contemporary poetry [...]
A Dreamer’s Guide to Cities and Streams is a passionate book whose topics range from celebration of life with all its contradictions to calls for action to stop violence and environmental destruction.
– Lucille Lang Day, founder, Scarlet Tanager Press, and author: “God of the Jellyfish,” and “Fire in the Garden.”
San Francisco, CA. — Joan Gelfand’s [...]
While I was thrilled that there would be a woman reading a poem at Barack Obama’s big day, Elizabeth Alexander failed to thrill me. Off to a slow start, the highly anticipated Inauguration Poem “Praise Song,” was not, in my opinion, redeemed by the final stanza espousing love. I couldn’t help but think ‘if this [...]
“A Dreamer’s Guide to Cities” San Francisco Bay Press, Virginia/San Francisco: 2009
In her second full-length poetry collection, Joan Gelfand explores the poignancy of living in a world that is war-torn and environmentally damaged. With a nod to the humorous paradox of modern life, Gelfand writes from the vantage point of a mother, an artist, and a Zen meditator. “A Dreamer’s Guide…” looks beyond the surface of our lives at the connections that make live worth living, and the sensual details that color it. Read More
Seeking Center: A Collection of Poems by Joan Gelfand, Two Bridges Press, Richmond CA: 2006
In Seeking Center, Joan Gelfand joins the reader in a free-wheeling discussion, beyond the poems themselves, regarding what is poetry today, here at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Read More