Unpublished Poets

Bobby Dews
AuthorHouse (2011)
ISBN 9781456741907
Reviewed by Joseph Yurt for Reader Views (5/11)

In his quintessential southern novel, “Unpublished Poets,” author Bobby Dews digs deeply into his small town Georgia up-bringing, life-long passion for baseball and his inherent writing skills to create a novel that is rich in language and imagery.

Southern writer and editor, Willie Morris, wrote, “In the South…we go back home to dreams and memories…,” and “Unpublished Poets” is steeped with both. Author Dews takes the reader on a delightful, rambling path through the lives of his central characters, beginning in the twenties, on through the sixties. Like all notable Southern writing, common themes include a sense of place, strong family relationships, and meticulously drawn characters with names like Cappy Thorpe, Little Big Carl, and Charlie Tea. 

The book is a stage for Dews’ storytelling, and oh, what stories he tells. One of my favorites, and I have many from this book, is about The Big Game, a sandlot baseball match-up between a mash-up, black and white team of misfits and a team composed of the town’s best all white players. I eagerly read this beautifully told tale of a “Dream Game” over again, immediately upon finishing the book.

On another level, “Unpublished Poets” is more than highly enjoyable and pleasurable storytelling. Its stories, individually and collectively, reflect images of the northern and southern cultures “of the day.” The author uses them not only to entertain, but also to deliver point-blank commentaries on the times, which are often poignant and provocative.

Garrison Keillor has written, “…people will miss that it once meant something to be Southern…it doesn’t mean that much now, except for the climate.” Well, I beg to differ, that is, as long as we have Southern writers like Bobby Dews around, revisiting their dreams and memories through their writing. Whether you’re from the south Bronx, southern California or South Carolina, consider sitting a spell with “Unpublished Poets.” It’s great comfort food for the mind.

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