New England Literary News, January 12, 2023

A new collection of essays asks hard, intimate questions; Oliver de la Paz named Poet Laureate of Worcester; a virtual discussion on independent bookstores

Article by Nina MacLaughlin

“Mornings are a sustained hymn / without the precision of faith,” writes poet Oliver de la Paz in his poem “Aubade with Bread for the Sparrows.” Paz, who’s an associate professor at Holy Cross, was recently named the Poet Laureate of Worcester. His term begins this month and runs through the end of 2025. Poet Juan Matos has held the role since 2020. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, Paz has written a number of books including “Above Houses”; “Furious Lullaby”; “Requiem for the Orchard”; “Post Subject: A Fable”; and “The Boy in the Labyrinth,” a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award in poetry. His latest collection, “The Diaspora Sonnets” will come out from Liveright this summer. Paz is also the co-chair of the advisory board for Kundiman, an organization that works to promote Asian American writers and writing. “The world is in haste to waken,” he writes. “Don’t ask for a name / you can surrender, for there are more ghosts to placate. / Don’t hurt for the sparrows, for they love you, like a road.”