Evelyn C. McDonald
Arts & Culture Reporter
April 4, 2017 10:52 a.m.
Last Thursday I went to a book reading and signing for my friend Nola Perez. She has a new book with the droll title, Poems for People Who Don’t Like Poetry. She and Ron Kurtz did readings from some of the poems in the book. Ron joked that he had been at many readings for books Nola announced were the “last” ones she’d write. But poetry is as natural as breathing to Nola, and as essential.
The first time I met Nola was shortly before her last book of poetry, Blinded By The Light. That book was filled with poems from Nola’s several years in Paris and other places in Europe. She had announced that book as her last, which happily it wasn’t. Her poetry will take you on a journey you might not have thought about taking. She is living proof that poetry isn’t some weird craft, practiced by odd looking people in ivory towers. Poetry is all around us.
Nola finds poetry in the world around her, in her dreams, and in her memories. She does not shy from poems that probe sadness and loss but there is also so much joy in her verses.
This latest book is what I call stealth poetry. She has a number of short, light pieces described as whimsical, even an ode to an Egg McMuffin. But among the pages, there are more series poems that reach for your attention and perhaps make you consider things from a different perspective. As with her previous book, each poem is accompanied by a photograph that relates to the poem.
Though she has lived in many countries and other U.S. states, Nola is a Fernandina Beach native. She retains an abiding love for the sea and the creatures which populate our area. She has published several books of poetry and two memoirs. One such memoir occasioned her surprise for those of us attending the reading. It’s called Travels With The Kir Queen. If you are not familiar with the term “kir”, let me explain. Kir is a drink made by blending champagne with either Cassis or Chambord. The result is delightful and it was what greeted us at the reading.
Nola loves to introduce people to poetry and to encourage fledgling and not so fledgling poets. With Marilyn Wesley, she started the Poetry Canteen, a couple of years ago. The group meets monthly to read and share their own poems or poems that they love written by other poets.
I usually have a favorite in each of Nola’s books. If you read this book, look for the poem about her travels in Spain, “At The Bar/Café, ‘El Canto’.”
Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ’s Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.