Straight Razor and Other Poems

Salvatore Ala: Salvatore Ala was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1959. He studied philosophy and literature, and has worked at various jobs. His first book, Clay of the Maker, was published by Mosaic Press in 1998. He has also published five broadsides of his work. His poems have appeared in numerous journals; and most recently, in the anthology Sweet Lemons, Writings with a Sicilian Accent (Legas, 2004). Salvatore lives in Windsor with his wife and children.

"Salvatore Ala's diversity of themes...plus his naturalistic imagery-give force to his poetic diction, that of living speech..."&#8212The Toronto Star "Ala is a responsive poet: his work is quite supple and passionate..."&#8212Journal of Canadian Poetry "In the choir of new Canadian poetry, Ala's is the voice we should listen to carefully. Raised on Italian lullabies, his is a poetry firmly in the European tradition...There is no pretension, no artificial suffering - just her Majesty's metaphor and the simple details of everyday life given beautiful shape..."&#8212Goran Simic, author of Immigrant Blues and Sprinting from the Graveyard