01/31/2014
Join us at one or both of the readings and presentations by Akiva J. Savett and his brilliant work, Preservation
Thursday, February 6th at 7:00 PM
Winston Churchill High School
11300 Gainsborough Rd, Potomac, MD 20854
Hosted by the WCHS Educational Foundation
Sunday February 9th at 9:00 AM
Beth Sholom
11825
Seven Locks Road, Potomac, MD 20854
Brilliant Poet and Advanced Placement English Literature Teacher. he has been publishing poetry for over 10 years and his work has appeared in a variety of prestigious literary journals. Savett is also a chronic sufferer of Crohn's Disease and a committed father and husband. Much of his work is interested in opening the sacred; in each poem, Savett discovers and frees the luminous trapped within the chaos of his life. In the midst of his struggles with surgery, mortality, and the contingencies of parenthood, his voice shines brightly from the firmament of young and dynamic American poets. Below are some Amazon reviews for your review.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Think You Don't Like Poetry? Read This Book!
By Ali G on August 28, 2013
Format: Paperback Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm so thankful to have read this collection of poems. Mostly, I read novels and short stories, with the occasional book of poetry thrown in only if it comes highly recommended. One of my friends at college told me to read this because Savett is her former English teacher. I can't believe how much I loved it.
In poem after poem, Savett plays with language in surprising and ingenious ways, but he always gives the reader some accessible entry into meaning. Whether having a catch with his son, playing hide and seek with his daughter, visiting an old friend near the Gettysburg battlefield, or even flirting, tongue in cheek, with religious conversion so he can learn the names of trees and birds, Savett's poems are about everyday experiences and moments so many of us have stopped paying attention to. Some of the most powerful poems in the collection are about his experiences with pain and chronic health issues. Though never named in the book (his amazon author page mentions Crohn's Disease), references about and responses to illness provide a thread which ties this collection together---language and the book itself serve as preservation for Savett. In paying attention and displaying such a mastery of language, Savett is also preserving the fleeting precious moment and people he meets and loves. This book is short (it's a poetry chapbook) but incredibly sweet, and I look forward to reading more from him in the future. He is one of the few poets (Stephen Dunn, W.S. Merwin, Billy Collins, Kay Ryan) I will try and keep up with. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Billy Collins Would Be Proud :-)
By Haroot H. on August 22, 2013
Format: Paperback
In an interview with the PBS News Hour, two-time Poet Laureate Billy Collins was asked about the idea of making poems "accessible." He responded by saying, "I think accessible just means that the reader can walk into the poem without difficulty. The poem is not, as someone put it, deflective of entry. But the real question is what happens to the reader once he or she gets inside the poem? That's the real question for me, is getting the reader into the poem and then taking the reader somewhere because I think of poetry as a kind of form of travel writing."
Savett's collection successfully invites the readers into his poems. It is at this point of "entry" that his imagery guides the reader on a multi-sensory journey of daily life. However, instead of settling for mundane commentary, Savett challenges us to see and feel what we normally take for granted. If, as Collins so eloquently states; poetry is a "form of travel writing," then Savett's Preservation takes us on the simplest and most rewarding trip of all: a refreshing look at the people, moments and places that compose our existence.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
The mundane made luxurious
By Naomi R Kieval on August 20, 2013
Format: Paperback Amazon Verified Purchase
The author's love of the English language is evident from the first pages. Each poem presents an almost "stream-of-consciousness" account of daily life. These snippets of life as displayed in word-play and metaphor reveal much of the beauty of a life made up of family and naturalist spirituality; the author's health, family concerns, financial constraints, and more are on full display. The verse feels at home amid the early modern poets, beatniks, and absurists. Echoes of Ginsburg and cummings are clearly heard as well. Savett's Preservation is an impressive collection, and a great entree into modern free-verse.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Seriously beautiful
By Steph Herold on September 11, 2013
Format: Paperback Amazon Verified Purchase
The poems in this collection are complex enough to sink your teeth into, yet also beautiful enough to read once and appreciate. Sprinkled with literary and medical references, the way Savett conveys a sense of awe in each poem surprised and delighted me. Some lines are so perfect they will slay you: "we are more like pencils / where each day scratches / us away / than pens, intact, / but leaking words" and others will have you cracking open your computer to google (who's Tiamat again?). I felt like I was playing hide and seek with these poems, sometimes getting a glimpse at their meaning, sometimes searching and searching. Even if I couldn't uncover exactly what I thought the poems meant, they evoked that ineffable feeling you get when you're reading something good and you allow yourself to get inside the feelings of the poem instead of trying to pinpoint what every word signifies. A really refreshing read--looking forward to many more!
Corey Feldman
240-392-4444 (general office line)
12299 Greenleaf Ave
Potomac, MD 20854
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