THE ALTAR OF INNOCENCE: Poems

by Ann Bracken

Overview

The poems in this volume, based on events in the author's life, explore the 1960s culture of secrecy surrounding alcoholism and depression and their effects on herself as a young girl.

"Ann Bracken creates a vibrant dialogue with her reader. Her emotional vocabulary is wholeheartedly offered to us like a gift to the world. Bracken's strength comes from an equilibrium between idea and performance-interior and exterior lives, smartly drawn. With a strong voice, vitally engaged, she presents characters and behavior without judgment. Poetry is the vehicle that makes us laugh and cry at her "Altar of Innocence."
-Grace Cavalieri, poet and producer of the radio show "The Poet and the Poem from the Library of
Congress"

"The Altar of Innocence offers readers a rare and compassionate look at depression. By telling her mother's story and sharing her own, Ann Bracken takes us on an intimate journey through two generations of mental illness and ultimate healing. Readers will find hope in her journey."
- Laura Shovan, writer and publisher of Little Patuxant Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780990693956
Publisher:	New Academia Publishing
Publication date:	01/12/2015
Pages:	92
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.22(d)

About the Author

Ann Bracken is a writer, poet, educator, and expressive arts consultant whose poetry, essays, and interviews have appeared in Little Patuxent Review, Life in Me Like Grass on Fire:Love Poems, Scribble, New Verse News, Praxilla, The Museletter, Reckless Writing Anthology: Emerging Poets of the 21st Century, Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence, andPif Magazine. Her first poetry collection, The Altar of Innocence, was published in 2015 by New Academia Publishing of Washington, DC. Ann Bracken was nominated for a 2014 Pushcart Prize, and she serves as a contributing editor for Little Patuxent Review. She also leads workshops at creativity conferences, including The Creative Problem Solving Institute, Florida Creativity, and Mindcamp of Toronto. Her company, The Possibility Project, offers expressive arts and creativity workshops for women of all ages, as well as child and adolescent poetry workshops in schools. Ann Bracken is a lecturer in the Professional Writing Program at the University of Maryland.