Synopses & Reviews
"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."Carl Sagan
Poet and baker Kate Lebo takes her cue from Carl Sagan's quote to reinterpret everything we thought we knew about pie. Lebo calls the book "a collection of facts, both real and imagined, about pie." It includes time-proven recipes, an eclectic mix of prose poems, a pie horoscope, and ephemera. Lebo explores the tension between the container and the contained while also busting clichés and creating new myths around strawberry rhubarb, vanilla cream, mincemeat, and many other pies. A Commonplace Book of Pie expands on Lebo's successful chapbook of the same name that has two thousand copies in circulation. The book includes two dozen watercolors and illustrations by artist Jessica Lynn Bonin that reinterpret pie and baking in a contemporary, feminist context.
Kate Lebo makes poems and piesoften at the same timein Seattle, Washington. Her writing has appeared in Best New Poets, AGNI, and Poetry Northwest, among other journals, and she's the recipient of a Nelson Bentley Fellowship, a grant from 4Culture, and numerous writing residencies. After earning her MFA from the University of Washington in June 2012, she opened Pie School, her cliché-busting pastry academy.
Jessica Lynn Bonin is a painter and illustrator interested in Americanathe artifacts and images of our cultureand how that culture confines and defines us. She lives and works in a former hardware store and lumberyard in Edison, Washington.
Synopsis
Kate Lebo blends her passions—poetry and pie—into an irresistible mixture of high art, pop culture, recipes, and fantasy zodiac.
Synopsis
In this debut collection, award-winning poet and baker Kate Lebo redefines everything we thought we knew about pie. An eclectic mix of prose poems, fantasy zodiac, and humor, A Commonplace Book of Pie explores the tension between the container and the contained while considering the real and imagined relationships between pie and those who love it.
Expanding on Lebo's successful chapbook of the same name, this volume includes new poems as well as more than two dozen Americana-themed illustrations by artist Jessica Lynn Bonin. Bonin's art adds a sense of nostalgia alongside Lebo's modern style, and together with the text, puts pie and the art of baking in a fresh, contemporary context.
Kate Lebo makes poems and pies in Seattle. Her writing has appeared in Best New Poets, Gastronomica, and Poetry Northwest. When Kate is not creating poems, she is hosting her semi-secret pie social, Pie Stand, around the US, teaching creative writing at the University of Washington and Richard Hugo House, and pie-making at Pie School, her cliche-busting pastry academy.
Jessica Lynn Bonin is an illustrator and mixed-media artist whose work adds a modern twist to familiar images of American culture. Bonin's murals are displayed in New York,Oregon and Washington state. She lives and works in a former hardware store and lumberyard in Edison, Washington.
About the Author
Kate Lebo: Kate Lebo makes poems and pies--often at the same time--in Seattle, Washington. Her writing has appeared in Best New Poets, AGNI, and Poetry Northwest among other journals, and shes the recipient of a Nelson Bentley Fellowship, a grant from 4Culture, and numerous writing residencies.
After earning her MFA from the University of Washington in June 2012, she opened Pie School, her cliche-busting pastry academy. Kate also hosts a semi-regular, semi-secret social called Pie Stand at galleries, bars, and private homes across the country. A Commonplace Book of Pie is her first book. For poems, classes, and other tasty treats, visit pie-school.com.
Jessica Lynn Bonin: Jessica Lynn Bonin is a painter, illustrator, and jack-of-all-trades. Her paintings can be seen at http://www.paintingsforpeople.com/.