Sunday Evening at the Stardust Cafe' Paperback – March 17, 2006

Walter continues to evoke hometown memories and sets you to recalling many emotions of our lives on a very personal level.

W.E. Butts is a distinguished poet and a recipient of numerous awards in that field. He is also a good friend of mine.W.E. is a New England-based writer who presently resides in New Hampshire. His poems have been published in several magazines and anthologies, such as the Atlanta Review, Mid-American Review, Poetry East, The 1997 Anthology of Magazine Verse, Open Door: A Poet Lore Anthology 1980-96, Under the Legislature of Stars: 62 New Hampshire Poets, and Heartbeat of New England: Contemporary Nature Poetry.His latest book, "Sunday Evening at the Stardust Cafe", was chosen as a finalist for the 2005 Philip Levine Prize in Poetry from the University of California/Fresno, and won the Iowa Source Poetry Book Prize. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and received awards for the Massachusetts Artists Foundations and New England Writers. He is the author of seven previous poetry collections, including "Movies in a Small Town" (Mellen Poetry Press), which was nominated for the 1997 Jane Kenyon Outstanding Book of the Year Award, and a chapbook, "Sunday Factory," from Finishing Line Press. W.E. Butts also edits, together with his wife, the poet S Stephanie, the literary journal Crying Sky: Poetry & Conversation, featuring (among many others) works by Guggenheim Fellowship Recipient David Wojahn.And yet... W.E. Butts writes poetry that resonates with the general reader who may not be very well versed in the esoteric language of poetry. This would include yours truly. I think that anyone can appreciate W.E.'s ability to transform the average person's daily events to a level of adventure, significance, and self-fulfillment.The poems in this book are more like stories than metaphorical or symbolic expressions of feelings. W.E. Butts doesn't need to write about feelings, thoughts, things, and experiences for which there are no easy words, because his poems convey everyday occurrences that anyone has experienced in their lifetime, and transcends them into adventures--adventures of the mind, adventures of the soul, and adventures of the heart. No one's life is meaningless or insignificant in W.E. Butts' universe, including his own.I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see W.E. Butts perform readings, always to enthusiastic responses--including standing ovations. His audiences consist of both learned creative writers and those not generally versed in the art of complex poetry. He appeals to both sectors of listeners. If W.E. Butts were a musician, I would tell you that his music is both highly accessible and very sophisticated at once. His poetry is like music in that sense.I would recommend this book, with utmost confidence, to both scholars and interested students of poetry AND to anybody who appreciates good prose. However, beware of Butts' words... it could be you!