OUR BOOK: SAVOR: Poems for the Tongue

We’re so excited to share with you our newest book from Friendly City Books! SAVOR: Poems for the Tongue is our much anticipated anthology of food poetry.

“In these joyful, poignant, and wonderfully vivid poems, meals are crafted and cobbled, foraged and scavenged, relished, remembered, and lovingly shared. Savor is a sensory banquet.” ~ Catherine Pierce, Mississippi Poet Laureate

SAVOR: Poems for the Tongue is a feast of words, a banquet laid out across the pages where each poem is a dish to be relished. This unique anthology brings together the voices of 72 poets from around the globe, each adding their own flavor to the theme of food. From the sweet memories of grandmother's kitchen to the spicy tang of street food in bustling cities, from the bitter taste of loss to the umami of love rekindled over shared meals, this collection plates up a spectrum of human experiences.

In SAVOR, food is more than sustenance; it is a metaphor for life itself. The poets, with their diverse backgrounds, serve up verses that are as varied in taste as they are in form and style. Some poems melt in your mouth with their lyrical beauty, others offer a crunch of wit to chew on, and a few might just leave a poignant aftertaste that lingers long after the book is closed.

Curated with care and a deep appreciation for the power of poetry to connect us all, SAVOR: Poems for the Tongue invites readers to pull up a chair and join the table. Prepare to be transported by the scents and sounds of kitchens distant and near, to feel the warmth of shared bread, and to rediscover the joy of eating—not just to live, but to feel alive. In these pages, food becomes a shared language, a universal experience that transcends borders and reminds us of our common humanity.

About the Editors

BRENNAN BREELAND is an eater, drinker, lawyer, veteran, writer, and raconteur from Brookhaven, Mississippi. He has moved to New York City to taste life in Technicolor with his brilliant wife and two spoiled dogs: one a tyrannical malcontent, the other a well-meaning doofus. He loves boiled peanuts, raw oysters, chop-cheese sandwiches, fried chicken, shrimp Creole, dumplings of all kinds, and wine from the Southern Rhône and Champagne in equal measure.

STAN GALLOWAY writes from the hills of West Virginia. He has written and edited several collections of poetry, including Endlessly Rocking (Unbound Content, 2019), a celebration of Walt Whitman's 200^th birthday. He hosted a panel discussion on Food and Poetry at Pier-Glass Poetry.  In addition to poetry, seafood and sweets are his weaknesses.