Elisa Gabbert’s “On Poetry” column features a wonderful look at cloud imagery in poetry and the poems of Reginald Shepherd are featured, along with the cover of The Selected Shepherd. “Reginald Shepherd is also a cloud-spotter. Almost every poem in THE SELECTED SHEPHERD (University of Pittsburgh Press, $30) mentions clouds, the way almost every painting in a landscape gallery mentions clouds. (There are paintings of clouds, and those that only mention them in passing.) Shepherd isn’t quite writing “nature poems,” as we might say of Wright. But no poem about the world escapes nature, and clouds often enter as pure image:…

We are pleased to announce that Lesley Rains, former manager and buyer for the City of Asylum Bookstore and founder of the East End Book Exchange (now White Whale Books), has joined the University of Pittsburgh Press as Publicity Manager. “Lesley’s experience in front-line bookselling brings a real understanding of the importance of publicity to sell books in a competitive retail environment,” said Marketing Director John Fagan. Lesley will oversee all publicity efforts at the Press, including soliciting reviews, scheduling author events, and submitting books for a wide range of regional and national prizes. She will work with all Press…