Poet and English instructor Alison Pelegrin published her fourth book of poetry, “Hurricane Party,” a collection of poems inspired by her experiences with hurricanes and living on the West Bank.
“When I think of hurricanes I think of geography, and I think that connects these poems more than the fact that there’s a hurricane in them,” said Pelegrin.
The 72-page collection of poems was published on Oct. 3, 2011 by the University of Akron Press and is titled after one of the poems in the book.
“I think in that poem there’s also a sense of nostalgia, it is fun, you’re preparing for all of these things and nothing really ever happens,” said Pelegrin. “For the longest time, I had another title, which I’m not going to say because I might use it again. It was a wonderful title, but I just wasn’t feeling it. It felt soft compared to these poems. One thing that I always get positive attention for is the wit in my poems; I think that ‘Hurricane Party’ accomplished that and that by using it as a title, a sense of my attitude would come forward from the book.”
The first poem written for the work is actually the last poem in the book, called “Tabasco in Space.” According to Pelegrin, she wrote “Tabasco in Space” in the spring of 2007. Since then, she religiously worked for five years to finish the other poems.
“This book was a monster to organize,” said Pelegrin. “I cut a lot of work out of it. It was very hard because I had experienced so much change over the years, like after Katrina. I went on sabbatical leave and I got the National Endowment of the Arts fellowship. I actually felt a lot of pressure to be creative. I found it stifling almost. I worked very hard every day and I go through extensive drafts of all my poems, and that’s just the only way I know how to work.”
Of all the poems in the collection, Pelegrin said that “Praying with Strangers” is her favorite, the title being a metaphor for the act of writing. The poem itself, while not directly about writing, does mark the Katrina change for Pelegrin, portraying the moment when she realized that she would never be the same.
Pelegrin is already working on another project called “Dirty South,” which she hopes to drag out for as long as possible.
“This is actually the best stage of writing because nothing is due and an editor doesn’t want anything,” said Pelegrin. “I don’t know where it’s going and I don’t care. This is the fun part and I’m looking forward to making it last.”
Pelegrin has written three other books of poetry: “Big Muddy River of Stars,” “The Zydeco Tablets” and “Squeezers.” These collections, along with “Hurricane Party” are available on the shelf and online in numerous stores and websites, including amazon.com.