Recent Books
"So you thought you knew your A, B, Cs? Not until you read Alphalexia, an imaginative and quantum look at the very atoms of language--the alphabet--through the lens of these expertly-crafted poems that are as whimsical and satirical as they are an insightful and meaningful examination of our relationship tot eh very nature of language." Richard Blanco, U.S. Presidential Inauguarl Poet.
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"Russians speak of poets whose poems they love as having Nightingale Fever. Coincidence noted, Geometry of Dreams is a smart, fiery, original book. Read it and get the fever!" Thomas Lux
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"The poems in Barbra Nightingale's Geometry of Dreams fuse intellect with intuition, the elegy with the ode. Nightingale's meditations on love are deftly casual on the surface, a spelnded result of her attention to craft. Audacious, witty, and beautifuuly tragic, Nightingale's poems make beelines for both our minds and our hearts." Denise Duhamel
Other Books
Two Voices, One Past
2010
This book is very close to me, as it is all about my mother, who died in 2009. They are written by me, but imagined in her voice. It was the runner up in the 2010 YellowJacket Press award.
Singing in the Key of L
2009
This book won the 1999 Stevens Poetry Manuscript prize, a national contest. It contains some of my favorite (as well as fan favorite) poems. "Barbra Nightingale has been singing to us for a long time, so its a delight, finally, to have these poems/songs wrapped up in one powerful pacakage; it deserves this prize. These poems are surprising, univied, scary, bawdy, funny, and very sad; in short, like a life deeply lived."Â Peter Meinke, Poet Laureate of Florida.
Greatest Hits (1980-2000)
2000
From academic poets to community and street poets--the Greatest Hits series provides their top 12 numbers from a broad range of venues and publishing histories. This invitational celebrates poetry's place in our culutre and honors the artists whose lines elevate America's poetic sensitivities.