Review commentary on the poetry of C.J. Stevens:

"His poems are serious, attentive gestures of care for other people or remembered experiences. He promises staying power."         -- LIBRARY JOURNAL

"He can evoke another time and place with surprising immediacy and power." -- BOOKLIST

"His poems are fresh, richly imagined, and executed with economy and wit."  -- MISSISSIPPI REVIEW

"One thing he does better than anyone else I know is incisive, sympathetic, moving portraits of persons outside of himself... He is a highly skilled craftsman, working with precision and accuracy."  --  Ron Schreiber, MARGINS

 "He has a penchant for catching the essence of a character from ordinary life, the very
ordinariness becoming a springboard for unique twists of imagery. He is able to pace his images with earthy conversational rhythms and season with a rueful wit." -- Barbara F. Lefcowits, POET LORE

"Page after page grab you where you live. He exhibits a sure mastery of style and subject."            -- CANADIAN FORUM

"It is an engaging personality that speaks to us in these poems, a man whose sharp eyes pick out even the subtle differences a single line can make."            -- Thomas Dillingham, OPEN PLACES
 

COLLECTED POEMS
    88 pages -- His Sixth and Latest Collection!

SHEPHERD WITHOUT SHEEP
    88 pages -- His Fifth Collection

BEGINNINGS and other poems
    80 pages

CIRCLING AT THE CHAIN'S LENGTH
     77 pages

SELECTED POEMS
     180 pages

HANG-UPS
    86 pages
 
 

The artist who paints with words and composes with metaphors has a limited following. When a poet's mother tongue sounds harsh and strange to all beyond a country's narrow borders, the rest of the world is impoverished.

C. J. Stevens has gathered the works of a group of Dutch and Flemish poets, all highly regarded in their native land, and has poignantly unveiled their powerful form and brilliant imagery. His translations effortlessly mirror the core and scope of the original work. As we open the pages we are amazed that such fine poets of a concurrent culture have been strangers to us. But no longer.

This volume contains a range of varied and talented voices. It is an invitation to discovery, delight and recognition. A book to keep at hand.

"This book is fascinating for the range of poets that it represents as well as for the amount of control the translator clearly has over his materials. Good translations such as these will endure."   BOOKLIST