Listening to Africa by Diana Raab (Book Review)

Title: Listening to Africa
Author: Diana M. Raab
Publisher: Antrim House


About the Book: Poet Diana M. Raab travels to the heart of Africa with her family to experience the beauty and fascination of another world. During her safari, she observes the distress, the delight, and the dignity of the humans and animals who live there and parallels them with her own quest for health.

Listening to Africa's Reviews
“Diana M. Raab makes a pilgrimage from the 'familiar neon of home’ in America to Africa, bringing her family, her passion and her pen. Her moving words carry us with her in narrative poems re-plete with vision, humor and irony. In her inner and outer journey, the poet transforms fear and sadness into beauty and love as her heart opens 'in this place which will remind you of your reason for living.’”
- Susan Wooldridge
author of poemcrazy: freeing your life with words

“Diana M. Raab takes us on a joyous poetic journey of words and photos. She juxtaposes her wisdom, essential wellness and depth of feeling in exploring four-legged friends, illness, and hope, making this an extremely powerful collection."
- Cara Nusinov
author of Unrequited Loves and Other French Kisses

My thoughts: I am not sure how to review a poem book, but I will do my best.  I did enjoy reading these - they are very quick - about a page each.  She has the book divided according to where she traveled in Africa as I am guessing she wrote as she traveled.  She has a way of taking what is everyday for the people in Africa and making it a one-of-a-kind event for the reader.  She weaves into these poems thoughts on her own health, her family, memories of her father and in this way connects her experiences with her home.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my review.~

Diana Raab's Bio:

Diana M. Raab is a memoirist, essayist and poet. She has a B.S. in Health Administration and Journalism, and an RN degree from Vanier College in Montreal, in addition to an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Spalding University’s Low-Residency Program.

Diana has been writing from an early age. As a child of two working parents, she spent a lot of time crafting letters and keeping a daily journal. A journaling advocate and educator, Diana teaches creative journaling and memoir in workshops around the country. She frequently speaks and writes about the healing powers of writing.

She’s the award-winning author of eight books, and the author of over 500 articles and poems. Her release is Writers on the Edge: 22 Writers Speak About Addiction and Depression, co-edited with James Brown, which is a compilation of essays by renowned writers discussing how addiction has influenced their literary lives. She is also editor of Writers and Their Notebooks, a collection of essays written by well-known writers who keep journals.

Raab is the author of two memoirs, Regina's Closet: Finding My Grandmother's Secret Journal, winner of the 2008 National Indie Excellence Award for Memoir and Healing With Words, the 2011 Mom's Choice Award Winner for Adult Nonfiction.

She is also a registered nurse who teaches in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and at various writing workshops across the country. She is the author of four poetry collections, My Muse Undresses Me (2007); Dear Anais: My Life in Poems for You (2008), winner of The Reader Views Award and an Allbooks Review Editor's Choice Award; The Guilt Gene (2009); and Listening to Africa (2012).

Her poetry and prose have appeared in national journals and anthologies such as Rattle, Rosebud, Litchfield Review, Tonopah Review, Writers' Journal, A Cafe in Space, the Toronto Quarterly, Common Ground Review, The Smoking Poet, Snail Mail Review, New Mirage Journal, Lucidity, Blood and Thunder, Jet Fuel Review, Ascent, and The Huffington Post.

You can connect with her in the following places:

Diana Raab's Web Site:

http://dianaraab.com/

Diana Raab's Blog:
http://dianaraab.com/blog/

Listening to Africa's Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ListeningToAfrica

Diana Raab's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/dianaraab

Diana Raab's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/512931.Diana_Raab

Listening to Africa's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13579750-listening-to-africa

Diana Raab's Red Room:
http://redroom.com/member/diana-raab/blogTribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Listening to Africa blog tour site:
http://listeningtoafrica.blogspot.com

Listening to Africa
Publisher/Publication Date: Antrim House, March 2012
ISBN: 978-1-936482-18-4
80 pages