“That centered place from which Ballard writes sonnets,… a spiritual journey that all serious readers are willing to take… Being on that path though, finds that it is well-worn and with many forks. Inspired reading!”
–Stellasue Lee, Editor, Rattle
“Barry Ballard is one of our most gifted sonneteers. He might be the last poet left who constantly worships in the temple of the sonnet.”
–Virgil Suarez, Florida State University
“In this deft and soulful collection, Barry Ballard writes with a sculptor’s care, a sense of each line as a palpable, meaningfully weighted and invited, marked by imaginative wit, beautiful in itself, and essential to the visionary whole. It is a testament to his art that the voice never sacrifices its ring of authenticity and meditative grace to the hesitations of form, that the current ideas sings with such a convincing and subtle music.”
–Bruce Bond, American Literary Review
“These days, seeing a well-wrought sonnet on the page is about as rare as seeing a mint-condition ’62 Corvette on the highway. Ballard’s is an art just that beautiful. Whether exploring the dangers of the South Pole or simply fishing for the right words, these poems strike straight to the truth. You just can’t go wrong with craft of this vintage, or a poet of this quality.”
–Jack B. Bedell, Louisiana Literature
“As a maker of sonnets, Barry Ballard has few contemporary peers. The sheer quality and extraordinary output of his work are astounding; it is a heightening experience of the best sort to read him. The clarity of voice and the authority of moment and, above, all, the surety of control place him solidly among the few of this new century who know that form and feeling are important and that it does take both to write good poetry.”
–Jim Barnes, Chariton Review
“Barry Ballard is consistently good and prolific, so for those of us who love his work, his voice is a gift.”
–Virgil Suarez, Florida State University
“Barry Ballard offers a series of twenty-four, ‘elemental’ sonnets refreshing in their content and serious in their consideration… poems, consistent in their reflection of real life and true feeling. Ballard’s voice sings from and to the heart of human existence.”
–W. Dale Hearell, Editor, RE:AL, The Journal of Liberal Arts
“Plowing To The End Of The Road is terribly intelligent book of sonnets from one on our most skilled poets. This is a complete collection of poems that poets hope to write… in this volume Barry Ballard has written such a book.”
–Stephen Reichert, Editor, Smartish Pace
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