An Old Blue Light by Terra Oliveira
Written while in travel and in transition, An Old Blue Light evokes the feeling of roads, trains, new environments, and new sensations in a dialogue between the inner and outer world. Oliveira's work is often existential, sometimes questioning, sometimes resolving, but always with feeling. Threads of old grief and contented detachment accompany honest illustrations and prose, weaving together a collection on the border between the ascetic contemplations of a mystic and the vulnerable confessions of a person who dreams and loves.
"Terra Oliveira has always been able to bring the achingly human and the cosmic together, their poetry being the meeting point. This book feels like a triumph over loss. It feels like a discovery within oneself. Both ethereal and grounding at the same time. I feel as if I am experiencing their personal journey with them. They do not fail to inspire."
— Emery Allen, author of Become. and Soft Human
Terra Oliveira is a writer and visual artist from the San Francisco Bay Area, and the founding editor of Recenter Press. Her poems have been published in The American Poetry Review, Bamboo Ridge, Puerto del Sol, and elsewhere. During the week, you can find her managing two bookstores in the North Bay. Her poetry book, Itinerant Songs, will be out July 2025.
Collection of poetry and illustrations. Author photo by Nicholas Sese. 66 pages. Black & White. Published by Recenter Press in September 2017.