The Book of Clown Baby

Book excerpt: Poetry. This is a double collection of playful and surprisingly moving poems rooted in a theme of circus life. THE BOOK OF CLOWN BABY explores the fantasy existence of Gerry LaFemina's character, Clown Baby. Occupied by visions of trick horses, parades and high-wire acts, Clown Baby relates the fantastic to the common reality where he finds himself. Similarly, in the Figures, LaFemina, with his profound gift for image, captures the wonder of the big top, as imagined and recreated in children's play. Gerry LaFemina's poetry collection THE PARAKEETS OF BROOKLYN received the 2003 Bordighera Prize in Poetry and was published in a bi-lingual edition of English and Italian. Among his honors are prizes from the Academy of American Poets and fellowships from the Irving Gilmore Emerging Artist Foundation and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. The former editor of the literary journal Controlled Burn, LaFemina now co-edits with poet Dennis Hinrichsen Review Revue, a journal of reviews, interviews and prosody essays. Currently he directs the Frostburg Center for Creative Writing at Frostburg State University where he is an Assistant Professor of English.