Provenance

Poetry. In PROVENANCE--her first collection and a a semifinalist for the Academy of American Poets' Walt Whitman prize--Brandel France de Bravo explores not only her own roots but the roots of words. Taking her cue from Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, "Every word was once a poem," France de Bravo has written 26 poems-one for every letter-inspired by etymologies. "Sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued, sharply etched and sharply worded, Provenance is a book of alphabets and fables, of narrative precision and verbal passion"--Campell McGrath.