Sarah Browning

Dear Friends,

It is with immense pleasure that I announce the publication by The Word Works of my first book of poems, Whiskey in the Garden of Eden. I would be honored if you would join me for the release party/reading on Sunday, July 15, 6 pm at Busboys & Poets. So many of you have helped birth this crazy baby -- it would be fantastic to have you there to help celebrate. Details are below. If you can't make the 15th, I'll be reading a number of other times this summer and fall (the dates are at the end of this email) and I hope you'll be able to join me at one of those.

Whiskey in the Garden of Eden is available at Busboys & Poets Books or from the publisher; ordering information is in the announcement below.

Release Party/Reading
Whiskey in the Garden of Eden by Sarah Browning
Sunday, July 15, 6-8 pm
Langston Room, Busboys & Poets
14th & V Streets, NW
Washington, DC
U Street/Cardozo on the Metro green line
http://www.busboysandpoets.com/, 202-387-POET

Consider coming at 4 for Sunday Kind of Love, when we'll celebrate new chapbooks by E. Louise Beach, Michael Gushue, Alan King and Melissa Tuckey. Plus an open mic!

With huge gratitude to all of you,
Sarah
**

For further information contact: Bernie Geyer 703-255-2769 or berniegeyer@yahoo.com


The Word Works Publishes First
Poetry Collection by Sarah Browning

(Washington, DC) The Word Works is pleased to announce the publication of Whiskey in the Garden of Eden, the first collection of poetry by Sarah Browning.

“Was there whiskey in the garden?” Sarah Browning asks in “Things They Never Tell You.” “They don’t say / how long Eve dreamed / of reaching…before she took.” In these 44 poems Browning examines the joys of the female body but also the torments (“Assess Your Own Eating Behavior”). Venturing beyond the personal landscape, Browning fearlessly navigates the political: raised in an activist family, she marched against the Vietnam War at age five and at nine, campaigned for George McGovern for president. Any Washingtonian or Chicagoan will recognize the poet’s unique embrace of the places she has called home. In a voice Martín Espada calls “tough and funny and smart,” these poems alternate between the heartbreaking (“In a City of Barricades, I Dream of Baghdad”) and the hilarious (“Falling for Tiger Woods in a St. Louis Airport Bar”).

Browning is coeditor of D.C. Poets Against the War: An Anthology, a founder of D.C. Poets Against the War, and coor­dinator of Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness. She has received the People Before Profits Poetry Prize and an individual artist grant from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.

Whiskey in the Garden of Eden can be ordered online at http://www.wordworksdc.com/ or contact editor@WordWorksDC.com

The Word Works Capital Collection is a book imprint established in 1989 to showcase the outstanding poetry of writers in the greater Washington, DC, area. In 2006, the series was renamed the Hilary Tham Capital Collection after Ms. Tham, who passed away in June 2005. Tham served for 11 years as The Word Works’ Editor-in-Chief and was the author of more than 10 books of poetry, fiction and memoir.

The Word Works is a non-profit literary organization, based in Washington, DC, publishing contemporary poetry and poetry in translation in collectors’ editions.

Praise for Whiskey in the Garden of Eden:

When was the last time you were tempted by a good book of poetry? After reading Whiskey in the Garden of Eden all I could think about was the "Browning" of America. It comes none too soon. Sarah Browning writes like a woman who understands the world is too often divided between blacks and whites.

One can experience the joys of motherhood in this collection. This woman loves her son. I also like how Browning is able to navigate the streets and politics of Washington D.C. This is her home- her city. Praise for the poet who wrote this book.

- E. Ethelbert Miller

Sarah Browning has broken away from the pack with a lyrical discourse on race, class and the myriad mystifying ways our lives are shaped by cities. In these pages are words many of us have struggled to say, but can't, and words that we repeat endlessly, but not nearly as well. With unflinching language that is both lush and fearless, Browning burrows beneath the surface and gives voice to what lies dormant. Her courage forges an unforgettable signature.

- Patricia Smith

Whiskey in the Garden of Eden is aptly named. As the title suggests, these poems have a bracing honesty, at once stinging and clear. This poet has the courage to say what needs to be said, from the personal to the political (and the two are often intertwined). Sarah Browning takes on the hard questions—war, race, urban poverty—and never loses her cool. Her voice is tough and funny and smart. Read on. Find out for yourself.

- Martín Espada

**

Upcoming readings and signings by Sarah Browning, Whiskey in the Garden of Eden:

Sunday, July 15, 6 pm
Release party!
Langston Room, Busboys & Poets
14th & V Streets, NW
Washington, DC
U Street/Cardozo on the Metro green line
http://www.busboysandpoets.com/, 202-387-POET

Saturday, July 28, 2 PM
Karibu Books, Pentagon City Mall
1100 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA
703.415.1118
http://www.karibubooks.com/

Wednesday, July 18, 7:30 PM
INTERSECTIONS
Honfleur Gallery
1241 Good Hope Rd. SE
Washington , D.C.
Refreshments provided. Suggested donation is $2

Tuesday, July 24, 7:30 pm
Miller Cabin Series
Joaquin Miller Cabin
Rock Creek Park, Picnic Area #6, Beach Drive at Military Road Overpass
For more information and rain location, call Julie Enszer at 301-537-6570

Thursday, August 23
Northampton, MA
Location and time TBA

Friday, September 14, 6:30 pm
NW Washington, DC house party reading
For details, contact: lee.coyk@verizon.net

Wednesday, September 26, 7 pm
Kensington Row Bookshop
3786 Howard Avenue, Kensington MD
301 949 9416
http://www.kensingtonrowbookshop.com/

Monday, November 5, 7:30 pm
Cafe Muse at the Friendship Heights Village Center

4433 South Park Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD
301 656-2797

Sunday, December 9, 6 pm
Iota Bar and Restaurant
2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
703-522-8340 or 703-256-9275