Thursday, July 16, from 6-7:30pm at Book Beat, poet Cindy Frenkel will be reading from her new collection Bad Neighborhood, published by Kelsay Books. Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park, MI 48237. Books will be available at the reading.
“Cindy Frenkel is one of Detroit’s top poets. In Bad Neighborhood, she uses beautiful narrative poems to explore themes of life, death, tragedy, and hope. This reflective compilation transports readers to Detroit in the mid-to-late 20th century with heartfelt poems about her parents’ lives and passing, her brother’s tragic death, and more. The poems feature original imagery that reveals the mysteries of the soul. Widely praised and published, this exceptional poet is a must-read for anyone who appreciates beautifully crafted poetry.”
–M.L. Liebler, educator and author of Hound Dog
“With her alchemy of plain-spoken, suddenly perfect metaphors, and explosive, morally anchored last lines, Cindy Frenkel portrays a family… the marvels of this collection are the sassy buoyant poems of love for a daughter and unexpected love after divorce… Frenkel uses memory, the dynamics of ageing parents, and the legacy of the Holocaust to pierce us with her bullseye one-liners.”
–Molly Peacock, author of The Paper Garden and The Analyst
Cindy Frenkel’s poetry appears in publications ranging from LIBER to The New Yorker, as well as in anthologies. Her chapbook, presciently titled The Plague of the Tender-Hearted, was released during Covid from Finishing Line Press. Among the places her prose appeared are Vanity Fair, WIRED.com, and The New York Observer, where she was a columnist. A Hambidge fellow, Frenkel earned her MFA from Columbia University. She’s taught literature and writing from elementary school through college. Frenkel served as a writer-in-residence with InsideOut Literary Arts Project, which brings working poets into city schools. Her essay “Sharing Voices, Acting Crazy” appeared in their anthology To Light a Fire. “Galway Kinnell and the Blue Button-Down” was in The Southampton Review. “15 lessons from 9 years of teaching” was printed overseas in WRITERS IN EDUCATION. Frenkel edited the Detroit Institute of Arts magazine and co-authored 100 Essential Books for Jewish Readers with Rabbi Daniel B. Syme. For more, please visit: cindyfrenkel.com