Southeastern novelist sees poetry chapbook published

Friday, October 16, 2015
by: Rene Abadie


     HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University novelist and English Instructor David Armand had his first chapbook, a small collection of poems, published.
    “The Deep Woods” includes 15 poems that are generally about family life, explained Armand, a native of Folsom who lives in Hammond with his wife and two children.
    He is the author of three novels, including the award winning book, “The Pugilist’s Wife.” “The Deep Woods” is his first chapbook of poetry and is published by Blue Horse Press of California.
    “I started writing poetry as a teenager, then took it more seriously when in college,” said Armand, who received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in creative writing from Southeastern. “I started getting my poems published, and I’ve developed a passion for it.”
    In between teaching, writing novels and a soon-to-be released memoir about his mother’s life, Armand tries to write poetry every night, after his children have gone to bed.
    “I draw my thoughts from my family – the one I grew up with and my current family,” he said. “That’s why I dedicated this book to my kids.”
    “David Armand's ‘The Deep Woods’ is a beautiful collection. In poem after poem, Armand recognizes the importance of the familial, the personal, and the ways in which memory lingers and creates new realities,” said William Wright, series editor of “The Southern Poetry Anthology.” “The clarity of these poems -- their unimpeded voice -- reveals Armand’s greatest strength: to tell stories and to tell them well.”
    “Good poems bring us home with them for a spell. They build trust over time and share their experiences with us bit by bit,” said Jack Bedell, Southeastern professor of English, author of “Come Rain, Come Shine” and editor of the journal, “Louisiana Literature.”
    “Great poems, though, feel like home from their first line on,” he added. “David Armand's ‘The Deep Woods’ is full of great poems. It’s a book of fathers, and of sons, and of a world so real you can smell piney woods and see steam rising off a newborn foal.”
    “The Deep Woods” is available on Amazon.com and other book retailers.




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