Battles and Lullabies (Illinois Poetry Series) - Softcover

Richard Michelson's poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies, including The Norton Introduction to Poetry, Unsettling American and Beyond Lament: Poets of the World Bearing Witness. Recent poems have appeared in The Harvard Review, The Massachusetts Review, Parnassus and elsewhere. Michelson s many children s books have been listed among the Ten Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker; and among the Twelve Best Books of the Decade by Amazon.com. Michelson is also the owner of R. Michelson Galleries, the host of Northampton Poetry Radio, and a two term Poet Laureate of Northampton Massachusetts.

"Michelson's allusions to his personal history in terms of the artistic struggle make the book a touching masterpiece. It is accessible, honest, funny, moving and one of the best poetry books I've read in many years. --The Jerusalem Post

Richard Michelson is a well-known writer of children's books and the recipient of several poetry awards. His poems have been described as witty, shrewd, and beautifully modulated. Yes, they are that, but also shattering, powerful and, occasionally, gently erotic. --Midwest Book Review

Michelson s poems are wounded and raw and honest, intriguing in their sincerity and profundity. Overall, the poet attempts to honor the memory of the past without negating or neglecting the value and purpose of the present. As incongruous as our human longing may sometimes seem in grim circumstances, our desires for sex and art and children and beauty do serve a grander purpose: they are opportunities to glimpse flashes of brilliance in a seemingly pitch-black world. --South Carolina Review