Brenda Levy Tate, author of Cleansing (Rising Tide Press, 2005) and Beeline (Lopside Press, 2007), and included
in Jailbreaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets (Biblioasis 2008), an anthology of the editors’ favorite Canadian sonnets of
the past century:

With cadenced language that alternately screams, murmurs and sings, Carla Martin-Wood has
shaped a most remarkable cosmos. Therein, we are not only asked to confront the darkest
aspects of ourselves, but also to rejoice in the wider creation that she has set before us. The
poet reveals how illumination can fill us if we but let it in. Her landscape has been formed under
the hands of a dual deity, both harsh and generous, whose feminine aspect is particularly
significant. It becomes a place where unanticipated miracles oppose unforgivable wrongs. Either
extreme, the author seems to suggest, is crucial to our spiritual and moral progress as imperfect
citizens of earth. It is impossible to encounter the Virgin Mary of Holy Night without a shiver of
recognition. No one can come away from How We Are Loved or Praisepoem without marveling at
the author’s insight. Her vision embraces every boon, broken hope, bright or shadowed being
that leaps or flies or darts through water. Rose, thorn and lamb are given fresh meaning in
unexpected context. Though startled, we still understand.


Carol Lynn Grellas, author of Litany of Finger Prayers (Pudding House Press 2009), Object of Desire (Finishing
Line Press 2008), and A Thousand Tiny Sorrows (March Street Press):

In this superb and intelligent collection, from its opening poem, Ticking, to the exquisite beauty
of Praisepoem, you will find yourself transfixed from beginning to end. This is not just a book of
poems, but an experience, as we see life through the eyes of a true poet. Glory be to you, Carla
Martin-Wood, “For You have filled my blood with words this day” -- for the gift of such a book.


Joanne Uppendahl, author of the forthcoming She Who Gathers Stones, (iUniverse 2010):

Carla Martin-Wood reveals a consuming fire, a cleansing blend of passion and doubt. What
remains is pure light, singeing in its white heat, arrowing directly into our hearts. Her gifted work
is both intimate and universal.


Karen Kelsay, Editor, Victorian Violet Press, author of In Spite of Her (Flutter Press 2010) and Fist of Roots
(Pudding House Press 2009)

Carla Martin-Wood is a brilliant poet whose poetry underscores fundamental emotions in a
powerful, gut wrenching way. I stand amazed at her ability to convey and contrast vulnerability,
anger and compassion in the written word. Truly, one of my favorite poets.

Fleda Brown, Poet Laureate of Delaware 2001-2007, and prize-winning author of six collections
of poetry, speaks out on Bitch, one of the poems from Garden of Regret:

"This poem lives up to its fierce title. It moves flawlessly into the craving, the mad passion that
'gorges itself, and then slips to some cave apart/ to gnaw the bones of memory.' I am in the
presence here of pure energy, no blunder of language in the way between us. I love 'rain
beating/ like the frantic hands of a jealous wife,' which may inform the poem, leaves us to
guess that it does. Then the last stanza, which pulls us out of the immediate, tells us this passion
is long past, but not at all, really. It's after the speaker 'like a pack of hounds'. What apt
metaphors!"  
Please see my Links page for a list of the various sites that have graciously provided some of the
gifs for The Well-ReadHead.   Please visit their websites for more information. To see more of
Josephine Wall's wonderful art, visit my Links page and  go to her website.
Heads up!
NEW from Fortunate Childe Publications


Soft cover, $12    Hard cover, $25
Visit  Fortunate Childe Publications to purchase.
Flight Risk is the first full-length collection by Carla Martin-Wood.
This assemblage of poems -- most previously published in literary
journals, some brand new -- affirm that, like the aerodynamically
challenged bee, we can still fly, regardless of life's challenges.  

115 pages. Perfect bound. $15

Visit  Fortunate Childe Publications to purchase.
A memorial to the poet's beloved grandparents, Feed Sack Majesty is
a collection of lyrical poems celebrating two remarkable people in
difficult times.

36 pages. Perfect bound. $6.99

Visit  Fortunate Childe Publications to purchase.
Dive into the exciting work of 17 women poets -- some well-published, and a few
new voices. Gutsy, lyrical, full of juice, lilith. a collection of women's writes, is a
delight start to finish. Includes poems by Carla Martin-Wood and other Pushcart Prize
nominees, as well as some dynamic new voices.

131 pages. Perfect bound.

Visit  Fortunate Childe Publications to purchase.

Other Chapbooks by Carla Martin-Wood
Heart and Soul, Copyright Josephine Wall, www.josephinewall.co.uk
Was Eve actually upset at being ousted from the Garden? Did Sarah
appreciate being passed off to the Pharaoh to protect Abraham,
losing the friendship of Hagar, then getting pregnant in her old age,
only to have Abraham try to sacrifice her son? And what was Mary
Magdalene really like? Men wrote the histories of these women -- so
we don't truly know. In HerStory, Carla Martin-Wood gives these and  
other women of the bible a voice of their own, illustrated in glorious
colour.

35 pages. Perfect bound. Colour.

Visit  Fortunate Childe Publications to purchase.
Garden of Regret, Pudding House Chapbook Series, 2009

Redheaded Stepchild, Pudding House Chapbook Series, 2009

Poets speak out about

How we are loved
Other books by Carla Martin-Wood
available now from

Fortunate Childe Publications
Those wild and uppity women from Lilth are back, and they brought
friends. Can-can dancers and Gibson Girls -- women who dared.
Don't miss this collection of accomplished poets, including several
Pushcart Prize nominees.

157 pages. Perfect bound. $9.43

Visit Fortunate Childe Publications to purchase.
A collection of poems by three-time Pushcart Prize nominee Carla
Martin-Wood. Perhaps, the only real magic is found within ourselves,
in our ability to rise above loss and adversity, to reshape our lives
with every new morning, to extend love and forgiveness to our
fellow humans – and possibly, even to God. And if so, that is the last
Magick – the one that will guide us home.

49 pages. Perfect bound. $10

Visit  Fortunate Childe Publications to purchase.