Liz Ciampa Leuzzi :: Writing and Poetry

Liz Ciampa Leuzzi

Order What is Left
from Big Table Publishing.

Advance Praise for What is Left

"Liz Ciampa-Leuzzi shows you What is Left when she invites you to travel the veins of a family tree: personal, poignant, reaching to grow. With candid description Ciampa-Leuzzi reveals the many facets of a woman both driven and resolved to feel, to examine, and to forgive 'through the wide eyes of the Novice/ While holding hands/ with the security of Experience.'"
— Rosemarie S. Sprouls, More Possum than Turtle

"In this candid book of poems, Liz Ciampa-Leuzzi writes from the heart and quickly develops an intimate relationship between reader and poet. We experience every sentiment from sorrow to joy, as in her moving and poignant poem 'Angel' whose 'light stretched through my skin' to 'Flair' where the speaker revels in her own optimism yet reveals a certain complexity and vulnerability with the chilling line 'how long could you wait before screaming?' A beautiful and reflective book of poems, What is Left as the title states, will indeed linger."
— Carol Lynn Grellas, Litany of Finger Prayers and
Object of Desire

"In What is Left, Liz Ciampa-Leuzzi writes of the pains and pleasures of daily life in poems that are at once convincingly specific and universally accessible. Whether she is paying tribute to the love and endurance of a grandmother, or recalling the shock of a traffic accident, or considering the smallest details of nature, she points her readers to the meaning that is already there, if only we have eyes to see. As she puts it in one of her most memorable lines, 'Poetry illuminates our home.'"
—Bill Coyle, The God of This World to His Prophet

Liz Ciampa Leuzzi

Latest News

Had a blast sharing new work and poems from What is Left with students, faculty, and members of the community at Endicott College during their semi-annual reading series October 8. I am fortunate to have a dynamic colleague and friend in Professor Dan Sklar, a prominent poet who wrote Bicycles, Canoes, Drums (Ibbetson Street Press, 2008).

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What is Left is released and, thanks to my editor and friend, Robin Stratton, the chapbook is beautiful! It is exciting to be a part of the history of chapbooks, which are a great vehicle for sharing and celebrating our love of poetry and writing.

I am repeatedly amazed by the wealth of talent and dedication of Boston-area poets and writers.

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My next collection is inspired in part by the original theme of "what is left," which in turn, has great nuance of meaning. With this new group of poems, the general idea is that even what is left behind may be of good use once again — perhaps it can be recycled, reworked, and rejuvenated.

Maybe that's a good theme during this age of Green Renewal! Anyway, please look for the new collection by the summer of 2010 — it's been fun creating (recreating?) it so far.