AIM Higher, Inc. announces the release of Kim Noriega's Naming the Roses, the author's first full-length poetry collection and the new nonprofit publisher's second release. According to Dr. Sarah Luczaj, author of 64 Changes, these poems "storm in with ... [a] chilling juxtaposition of romance and violence in the strong unapologetic voice of a woman."
Naming the Roses builds upon Noriega's previous work, Name Me, by adding over 30 new poems that dive deeply into the impacts of addiction and abuse. Cecilia Woloch, author of Carpathia, notes that "Among the roses that Kim Noriega names are the bruises that bloom from sexual violence and the self that blossoms in the aftermath of the effort to love and love again."
Ellen Bass previously described Noriega's work by saying, "These poems tell us the stories that live beneath the surface of our lives. These are poems that matter."
Noriega is recognized for her intense and often brutal poems that confront issues of male-on-female and family violence, including the whispered-to-children-don't-tell-anyone kind, blackened eyes, and bruised throats. However, as Dr. Luczaj observes, "She does not shrink from beauty either, a subtle beauty, infused with familiarity that makes her words feel like home."
A prize-winning poet, creative nonfiction writer, and teacher, Noriega has received the San Miguel Literary Sala Flash Nonfiction Prize and has been a finalist for both the Edna St. Vincent Millay and Joy Harjo Poetry Prizes. Her poem "Heaven, 1963" was featured in former poet laureate Ted Kooser's syndicated column American Life in Poetry. She also serves as the poetry editor of The Poetry Distillery, is a teaching artist with The Poetry Barn, and founded The David Wade Hogue Poetry Scholarship through AIM Higher.
A portion of the proceeds from Naming the Roses will be donated to Kathy's Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit that supports children and pets affected by domestic violence in San Diego County.
Dr. Luczaj concludes by expressing her admiration for the book: "I only wish I could inhabit the unashamed, unpitying, beautiful, warm, defiant spirit of this book that rises off it like steam."
