James Scully

“James Scully’s splendid new book, Donatello’s Version, is a social poetry which arises not from opinionation and facile protest, but from clear-eyed witness, hope, and saeva indignatio. His art is impatient of art, yet handsomely honed and phrased; it demands that we see and face injustice, and it assails—often through mockery—our compromises and complicities. Of many strong poems in this collection, I think that ‘Babble’ is a work of exceptional power.”—Richard Wilbur

“James Scully’s fierce moral intelligence, poetic craft and grim humor are all alive and well in this long-awaited collection.”—Adrienne Rich

“Poems as they should be written—impatiently, impassionedly, intelligently, impertinently. Our daily language remade by a revered craftsman into quick images and sharp-tongued speech against harmful pretenses and imperial cruelty. Work by a line master. A book pervaded by a longing for freedom and the brave, bold talent of a man of everyday action. In a word, the smartest, most urgent, most actual poetry we have.”
—F.D. Reeve

"James Scully's new book of poems, Donatello's Version, is searing, incendiary. These poems are written in the great tradition of engaged literature, following in the footsteps of such masters as Neruda, Hikmet, and Thomas McGrath. Whether it's describing the overwhelming universal cry for justice or waxing eloquent over Abu Ghraib, Scully's verse burns. This is the real thing, about the real world, make no mistake about it."—Chris Faatz, Powell’s Books