UVM English professor Major Jackson's third book of poetry, released in August 2010, has received accolades from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. According to the publishers, W. W. Norton & Company, "In Holding Company, Major Jackson explores art, literature, and music as a kingdom, or an empire, a dark, seductive force in our lives. In an effort to understand desire, beauty, and love as transient anodynes to metaphysical loneliness, he invokes Constantine Cavafy, Pablo Neruda, Anna Akhmatova, and Dante Rossetti." Praise for Holding Company has recently come from Publishers Weekly which gives it a starred review. "In his third collection, which is also his darkest, Jackson delves into wrenching, personal subject matter in rigid 10-line poems, a formal choice that seems to inspire an emotional nakedness he hasn't previously achieved. He begins on a visionary note --'For I, too, desired the Lion's mouth split/ & the world that is not ours, and the wounded children/ set free'-- and then, in the same poem, name-checks Duke Ellington: these poems range widely across various registers and subjects, from the timeless and mythic to pop culture. But at the core of all of them is an awareness of the dark beneath everyday goings-on: 'The neighbors/ know your comings and goings, but the syntax/ of your smiles is revealed only to little children.' Also at the heart of these poems is the painful dissolution of a marriage, which Jackson compares to 'a democracy lost to a monarchy.' This powerful book represents a painful but inspired journey." (Aug.) Library Journal says, "Some of Jackson's connections can be difficult, yet he manages to include lines and images as delicious as they are surprising. 'Thus I am/ your sweet messenger glittering more than first stars,/ a harvest of light concealing your nicks and little deaths.' VERDICT: More than one poem in this volume will take your breath away. A highly recommended collection from an important poet." —Karla Huston, Appleton Art Ctr., WI To find out more about Major Jackson, visit his website and see the recent profile in Poets & Writers Magazine .