“THE HEIRESS OF MARY OLIVER” RETURNS WITH SECOND EDITION OF AWARD-WINNING COLLECTION THE WEIGHT OF SNOW

SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, June 1st, 2017—Author Bri Bruce (writing under the name B. L. Bruce) of Santa Cruz will release a second edition of her debut collection of poems The Weight of Snow: New & Selected Poems on June 1, 2017 as the fifth work of Black Swift Press’s assemblage.

In the newly edited and polished version of The Weight of Snow, Bruce explores the many plights of the human species, from the mysteries of the heart and the inescapability of death, to the depths of human emotion. Told from the perspective of a poetic naturalist, Bruce shares her appreciation of the wild, illuminating the profound in the mundane while chronicling the natural world as both an observer and an irrefutable part of it. Her poems focus strongly on image and locality, conjuring the imaginations of readers and celebrating the beauty in the follies of the human condition.

Santa Cruz County’s first Poet Laureate Gary Young says of Bruce’s book, “The poems in The Weight of Snow are heartfelt, skillfully written, and keenly observed fragments of the natural world and our lives there. Bravo.” Deemed the heiress of Mary Oliver by many, of Bruce’s work Karen Lewis, author and Executive Director of the Mendocino Coast Writer’s Conference, says, “There is nothing to say that would be as lyrical and eloquent as this poet’s language. She writes as a daughter of California’s wild places.” 

Since the release of the first edition, Bruce has received a number of accolades, including a Pushcart Prize nomination. The first edition of The Weight of Snow was the 2014 International Book Awards and 2014 USA Best Book Awards finalist in the poetry category. Bruce received the 2014 PushPen Press Pendant Prize for Poetry for her haiku series published in THREE alongside then Poet Laureate Erica Goss.

A graduate of UC Santa Cruz’s literature department with a concentration in poetry, Bruce has authored two additional works under Black Swift Press’s imprint: a collection of memoirical prose written entirely during a twenty-eight-day stay in the remote forests of Northern California titled 28 Days of Solitude and a chapbook of poetry, The Starling’s Song.

Bruce is currently working on her third collection of poetry, set to be released later this year, and her coming-of-age novel ten years in the making.

Bruce is available for interviews and appearances. For booking presentations, media appearances, interviews, and/or book signings contact bribruceproductions@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Bri Bruce, Bri Bruce Productions
Email: bribruceproductions@gmail.com
www.bribruceproductions.net

CAPTURING CALIFORNIA’S COAST: SANTA CRUZ POET LAUNCHES DEBUT POETRY COLLECTION

“Alive with style and filled with beautiful, nostalgic imagery. Bruce’s free verse poetry is rich with detail, and her evocative language will stay with you long after reading this collection. Deeply introspective and profoundly insightful, each poems displays great thematic range and literary sensibility.”   - J. Rodriguez, Film Producer and Artist

“Haunting and provocative wile simple and natural. [The author’s] amazing gift of poetic writing and presentation cannot be missed.”   - Linda Harper, Author

SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, January 27th — Local author and freelance editor Bri Bruce of Santa Cruz will release her debut collection of poems The Weight of Snow: New & Selected Poems on February 1, 2014 as the first work of Black Swift Press’s California Writers assemblage. She is planning a book launch party this spring that will include other local authors, artists, and creative minds.

Bruce, a freelance editor, graphic designer, photographer, and graduate of UC Santa Cruz’s literature department, has been working toward publishing her first collection of poetry for five years. Her work has appeared in dozens of magazines and literary publications, including Santa Cruz’s phren-Z and The Monterey Poetry Review. Last winter she was bestowed with the opportunity to read her work at the Museum of Art History in downtown Santa Cruz and was chosen for the Centrum Foundation’s writer’s residency. In addition, she is the owner of Bri Bruce Productions, a writing, editing, and graphic design company based out of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

San Francisco author and publisher Kermit Heartsong calls Bruce’s work, “Evocative, powerful, and transporting,” and the collection as a whole is “a poignant and beautiful story of a life, experiences, memories, and pain. Ms. Bruce is truly a gifted poet.”

Written in the vein of Mary Oliver, May Sarton, and the late Santa Cruz poet Maude Meehan, Bruce’s poems are inspired by California’s breathtaking Pacific coast and inland coastal regions. In her collection, she explores the many plights of the human species, from the mysteries of the heart and the inescapability of death, to the depths of human emotion. Told from the perspective of a poetic naturalist, Bruce shares her appreciation of the wild, illuminating the profound in the mundane while chronicling the natural world as both an observer and an irrefutable part of it. Her poems focus strongly on image and locality, conjuring the imaginations of readers and celebrating the beauty in the follies of the human condition.

Bruce is available for interviews and appearances. For booking presentations, media appearances, interviews, and/or book-signings contact bribruceproductions@gmail.com