What people are saying.

“First, we fall for Kathryn Cullen’s words, the epigraph for her book––a brushstroke of language, a quick moment of her compelling way with language; and then, after that first moment? This imperative voice from her poem, “Use All Spaces,” a list: ‘directions / new furniture / peace signs / chairs,’ which made me love this direct voice of hers, how much she chose to see. And the book unfolds. Lyric poems, photographs, some hand-written moments that bring this artist so close to us. In her poem, “In the Eighth Month,” she writes of ‘slipping deep into the pockets of the heat of things,’ and this seems right. Her images and personal memories, her judgements belong to all of us now. Such a gift.”

— Deborah Keenan, author of ten collections of poems, and a book of writing ideas, From Tiger to Prayer

”When I read Kathryn Cullen’s Notes From the Alley, I felt as if I’d been let in on a good secret. These poems are intimate, watchful, and sharp-edged, revealing the evidence of a deep inner life. They remind me that a daily kind of magic exists around us all, but only if we have the wit to see it. This is a soul-affirming book.”

— Katrina Vandenberg, author of The Alphabet Not Unlike the World and Atlas: Poems

”Notes From the Alley offers a series of compelling images, some that come to you with the intimacy of whispers in your ear, some that marshal a penetrating wit that you’ll carry with you, and some that freeze you in moment of keen observation. ‘Meandering is allowed,’ writes Kathryn Cullen and you will find that meandering within this volume is well-worth your time.”  

–– Ronald J. Pelias, Professor Emeritus, Southern Illinois University

”Quietly spectacular, rueful, hopeful. Through her poetry, Kathryn Cullen takes us on a journey that integrates past and present. She speaks movingly of family matters, difficult and joyful. Never taking for granted the tiny details of life, she compliments her poetry with photographs of everyday life. I only wish she were here with us to see her promise in print, yet I do not doubt she is watching—quietly observing, smiling, laughing, pointing us toward the future.” 

–– Suzanne Bunkers, author and editor