COVER BLURBS FOR DESERT MEDITATIONS
Barbara Wiedemann's Desert Meditations takes the reader along with her as she revels in the sights, sounds, colors, and smells of the wilds of the American West. These poems reflect a real appreciation and love of nature in its purest form, free from the taint of what we call progress.
Ed George, Alabama poet whose latest collection is Dark Roast.
In this marvelous cycle of poems, Wiedemann crouches, all sinew, like the desert hare, listening for the sound of revelation. Readers, prepare to listen in!
Suzanne La Rosa, publisher and cofounder, NewSouth Books
COVER BLURBS FOR THE DEATH OF A POPE AND OTHER POEMS
Barbara Wiedemann's new poems about Italy balance outright enchantment with sober clarity. To read this poet is to feel one's own thoughts, feelings, and memories sharpened and distilled. Many poets portray beloved landscapes and city scenes, but few have Barbara Wiedemann's talent for matching the loveliness of such scenes with the formal beauties of line, phrase, and sentence. Wiedemann is a true original, and in The Death of a Pope she is at the height of her powers.
Peter Campion, author of The Lions
The Death of a Pope and Other Poems takes its reader on a smart, witty, musical, and searching tour of the eternal city. A delightful guide for the imaginer, the learner, the rememberer, and the traveler alike.
Anthony Doerr, author of The Shell Collector and Memory Wall.
In The Death of a Pope and Other Poems, Barbara Wiedemann once again demonstrates her gift for gracefully taking the reader with her to share an experience, a place, a mood. The lyrical flow of her poems, although seemingly effortless, can only result from a careful and conscientious process of saying what needs to be said - and no more.
Edward M. George, poet, author of Cosmic Latte and Espresso Evenings.
REVIEW EXCERPT FOR SOMETIME IN OCTOBER
Wiedemann's purposes throughout the collection... are to observe life closely, to celebrate the happiness it can bring, and to pay tribute to the people and events, now past, from which such happiness arose.
Robert Evans in Montgomery Advertiser
REVIEW EXCERPTS FOR HALF LIFE OF LOVE
As that title suggests, Wiedemann `s poems deal not only with the great outdoors but with the intricacies of human relationships. Although many of the poems are set in specific places and record the beauties and mysteries of various locales, ultimately the true mysteries Wiedemann explores are those of the human heart - her own and others'. The poems are written in a style that is clear but suggestive, lucid but resonant, and both in their phrasing and in their subjects they will appeal to many readers.
Robert Evans in Montgomery Advertiser
But don’t be fooled by the simple, spare language. These poems move beyond mere description to reveal rich veins of emotional content. Wiedemann’s close examination of her surroundings guides us to the interior world of the heart and mind where deeper discoveries are made about self and relationships. This is achieved in part by Wiedemann’s invitation to share in her communion with the history of each place as indicated by such things as petroglyphs in sandstone and landscapes of old adobe structures. It is in this ancient world of “the Anasazi / and later the Paiutes” (“One Hundred Miles North of the Grand Canyon”) that the poet finds her own place in the world by connecting with the people who came before.
Irene Lathan in Alabama Writers' Forum