Sonnets For Agnodice by Mark Novak

What will strike you first, about the poems in this book, is their extraordinary range, from the short and lighthearted to the outright epic. We do not get much epic poetry today, but here it is: the longer poems are exactly that. Take “Psalm of Billy Hofer,” which tells the story of the Yellowstone bison, in language of elegant beauty (I am pleased to say that I helped in a minor way with the background). In it, elemental forces make war: the modern world draws a bead on the Yellowstone bison, the 2,000-pound monsters you can see in the national park today. You can see them because their human friends—shown the way by their greatest friend, Billy Hofer—won the struggle that Novak takes as his inspiration. It is a heroic tale if ever there was one, and the verse is pure epic.

–Scott Herring, Ph.D., Continuing Lecturer, University Writing Program, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, (530) 754-6270, srherring@ucdavis.edu

Recently, I received an opportunity to read Sonnets For Agnodice by Mark Novak. What an absolute treat to immerse myself this extraordinary collection of poems. The poetic narratives are engaging, sophisticated, and educational. Mark’s use of diction, dictum, and syntax are exceptional. The poem $50. was so engaging. I felt as if I was there. I was captivated by the lengthy and powerful narrative of Psalm of Billy Hofer and the sensual expressions in The Gold-Toothed Woman. An absolute favorite is The Bison Race. Let me encourage readers of Sonnets For Agnodice to avoid giving it a cursory read. This chapbook is worth the time and patience reading it.

–Emmett Wheatfall (2 Time Nominee for State Poet Laureate of Oregon),– author of Contradictions from an Uncertain Silence.