Book Riot, "Reflecting on Spring's Poetry"
Book Riot, "Recent Poetry Releases to Add to Your Collections in Anticipation of the Sealey Challenge"
Still: The Journal, "Books in Brief: Summer 2023"
"An atmospheric sense of place emerges through the collection's distinct voices and perspectives....While 'Derby City' is mostly known for its horse racing (as well as bourbon and basketball), it is also a meeting place of language and history. As Priest writes in her foreword, the anthology aims at 'recover[ing] those poetic histories and communities in the poems that follow on Louisville's collective traditions and icons, places and protests, spirits and songs, portraits and memories.' It more than succeeds."
–Publishers Weekly
"This compassionate exploration of community and home, Kentucky history and memory, and race and resilience moved me."
–Connie Pan for Book Riot, "Recent Poetry Releases to Add to Your Collections in Anticipation of the Sealey Challenge"
"
Once a City Said: A Louisville Poets Anthology is a sweeping rebuke of a city turned talking point in which more than three dozen poets seek to disrupt outside perceptions of Louisville. . . . At its core,
Once a City Said is a deliberate act of resistance, an insistence that outsiders make space for the lived experiences of those who call Louisville home, a vital reminder of the power inherent in refusing to relinquish our collective voices despite all efforts to silence us."
–Ronnie K. Stephens, The Poetry Question
"'A city can't run from itself.. try it & see how far you get.' True enough, poet Erin Keane. But can anyone pin a city down? Can someone bring in three-dozen voices that limn Louisville's limits as precisely but in more dimensions as all the 'You Are Entering' signs around its perimeter? Joy Priest accepted the challenge, editing the new anthology
Once a City Said. Among her own contributions is a barefaced and bitter contemplation of the racial divide between her father and her grandfather. In themed sections, the book considers the convoluted history of evolving neighborhoods and neighbors, the pleasures and confoundedness of local culture and traditions."
–T.E. Lyons, LEO Weekly
"Sometimes hidden, always remarkable, this is the story of Louisville."
–Carmichael's Bookstore
"Once A
City Said is not
only overflowing with brilliance and beauty in terms of language,
world-crafting, and a harmonious collision of voices, but it is also a work
overflowing with generosity. To offer a reader the breadth of talent that a
place can hold is to allow a reader to restructure that place in their own
world. This is a mighty collection of work that I believe will endure for
generations."
–Hanif
Abdurraqib, New York Times-bestselling
author of Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to
A Tribe Called Quest "Louisville
represent! I'm excited to see that Joy Priest has compiled a textured range of
contemporary River City voices that capture the traditions, protests, memories,
and spirit that is uniquely Louisville. This anthology is an engaging read that
spans voices, styles, and experiences. A wonderful accomplishment that says
once and for all that Louisville has its own dazzling slice of Kentucky's
literary legacy."
–Crystal
Wilkinson, Kentucky's Poet Laureate and author of Perfect Black "Poignant,
heartbreaking and uplifting, this collection of poetry is something wonderful
to live with, grapple with and absorb for generations to come."
–Edward Lee,
chef and winner of the James Beard Award for Buttermilk Graffitti
