Books: Chronology and Comments

As four early books were later revised for publication at lulu.com, this post is intended to help readers navigate through the chronological folders presented at this site.

1) I first published Inspired by Sappho back in 2003 (a very limited edition); these 50 poems are currently part of Across the Void, published at lulu.com in 2009. At this site the Sappho collection has its own folder.

2) My second limited edition book had the inspirational title of One Hundred Poems (2004). This volume, in a revised edition under the same name, can now be found at lulu.com (published there in 2009); all the poems from this book should be in the 2004 folder.

3) In 2005, I published another limited edition called Against the Grain. This volume had two parts: the first presented 1-50 of my Evening with Emily (Dickinson) poems (on which see below), while the second part held another 50 poems. When I decided to reissue this volume at lulu.com, in 2009, without the Emily Dickinson-inspired poems, I put together my own poems from part two of the 2005 volume plus 50 poems from Hearts of Crystal (see below). These poems were composed between 2004-2006.

4) In 2006 I published yet another limited edition of new poems: Hearts of Crystal. This book had three sections: section 1 held 33 new poems; section 2 contained the final 50 poems of the Evening with Emily project; and section 3 offered 30 poems by Megan Schmidt. There was never a lulu.com version of this book. 

5) My next limited edition book was Forever Reaching Out, 2007. It held 75 of my poems and 25 by L. Fenger. In 2010, Forever Reaching Out was revised for lulu.com, and contained the same 75 poems of the earlier release, revised, plus 20 poems for children (my Children's Poems have their own folder here). The poems of this volume are mainly to be found in the 2007-2008 folder, although about a dozen poems were written earlier, and can be found in the 2005-2006 folder just to make things more entertaining. :)

6) In 2008 I moved my poems to lulu.com for general distribution.  The first so published was A Thousand Suns (2008), and contained 80 new poems from the period between 2006-2008.

7) In 2009 I revised all the Evening with Emily poems and put all 100 of them into a book called Evenings with Emily. This volume is not available at lulu.com, but all the Emily poems do have their own folder here.

8) For 2009, I also published at lulu.com a volume of poems entitled Across the Void; this book had all 50 of the Inspired By Sappho poems (revised), plus 50 new poems. Almost all the new poems in this book date to 2009-2010.

9) I spent 2010 revising Forever Reaching Out, drinking decaf cappuccinos, and going to Antarctica to play among the penguins. I figured I needed some rest after 2009, but I also wrote a lot of poems.

10) By 2011, I was revived enough to publish, via lulu.com, my next book, Shades of Indigo. Poems in that volume date mainly from 2010 to 2011, but also include a few from 2009. This book also presented The Antarctic Collection (with its own folder here), a ongoing work-in-progress. My trip to Antarctica in 2010 had a tremendous impact on me, and continues to inform my poetry.

11) The year 2012 saw me publish On Being Pluto, a collection of 77 poems that date to the 2010-2012 period. I wish that Pluto was still a planet, the solar system can be so cruel.

12) In 2013 I sent forth Under Northern Stars and contemplated retiring as a poet. And thinking I really had been Emily Dickinson in a prior life.

13) In late 2014 I published my latest work, entitled Releasing the Ghosts. I'm now taking a break to see if I change my mind about retirement, or about ghosts. 

To locate my books at lulu.com, just search for "Kerry Brennan." Almost all are available for downloading, FREE. And the "hard copies" are priced by lulu -- I make no profit from these books (just in case the income tax folks are reading this).