United States, 18th Feb 2025, -
LindaAnn LoSchiavo’s Apprenticed to the Night has received the BREW Seal of Excellence from The Chrysalis BREW Project, the Spotlyts Story Award from Spotlyts Magazine, as well as recognition from Book World Front.
In the review from Australia-based worldwide literary platform The Chrysalis BREW Project, the book is described as: “Each poem in Apprenticed to the Night is meticulously structured, whether in the tight formality of a sonnet, the layered echoes of a cento, or the conversational pull of a dramatic monologue. The collection thrives on contrast: the innocence of childhood shadowed by the inevitability of loss, the weight of cultural traditions juxtaposed with the yearning for self-definition. Through crisp diction and evocative imagery, LoSchiavo conjures the scents of overripe figs, the hush of an empty hospital room, and the restless whispers of a haunted Brooklyn street. Though rooted in deeply personal experiences, her poetry resonates with any reader who has ever mourned, reminisced, or longed to reclaim something lost.”
According to Spotlyts Magazine’s review, Apprenticed to the Night by LindaAnn LoSchiavo is “a poetic landscape where history, memory, and loss collide.” The review praises the collection as “an exercise in retrieval,” where the poet reconstructs the past with “a precision that only time and heartbreak can refine.” LoSchiavo explores a New York that “isn’t the one tourists gawk at” but one that “breathes ghosts.” With poems that “do not offer easy closure—because real grief never does,” the magazine calls this collection “an apprenticeship in what it means to remember.”
Global book blog Book World Front, in its review, commended the collection stating, “LoSchiavo’s use of formal verse and evocative imagery presents a rich and thought-provoking exploration of life's complexities.”
Based in Pensacola, Florida, Andrea Walker, Poetry Editor, Panoplyzine, wrote this in her review: “Told with subtlety, family stories of activities are passed down through generations. The poet makes skillful use of internal rhyme in ‘Merletto (Lace),’ the story of her grandmother making lace. ‘She shakes from pale silk its unwillingness to be superior’ then asks the reader to ‘imagine what perfection she could coax from hiding out of me.’ This poem pays homage to ancestors in the line ‘ancestral graces may skip my generation.’ Homage to ancestors continues in ‘Grandpa Umberto’s Fig Trees.’ The speaker observes a kind of quiet desperation in the pruning and caring for delicate fig trees in Brooklyn that ‘will do just what they want’ when he is gone.
Based in Beirut, Lebanon, A. R. Arthur, editor-in-chief of Fahmidan Journal, wrote this in his review: “With sonorous diction and imagery, this collection offers the reader an intense, engaging, and emotive narrative through formal verse that is seldom seen in the contemporary era. . . . I appreciated the delicate nature of each of these poems where a targeted word-economy was clear, meaningful, and tantalising. This tantalisation is something that also stems from the generally thought-provoking nature of these poems. Indeed, readability is not something that can be called into question within this collection at large.”
Based in Limerick, Ireland, critic Billy Mills wrote this in his review on Elliptical Movements: “The cross-fertilisation of multiple registers creates and suspends readerly expectations adroitly while illuminating the narrator’s views on love and relationships as transactions wanting to be more. … LoSchiavo also plays with formal procedures, with a number of golden shovel and cento poems included in the collection.”
About Apprenticed to the Night
Apprenticed to the Night is a collection of 66 poems by LindaAnn LoSchiavo that explores themes of loss, memory, betrayal, and mortality. Structured in three sections—Youth, Maturity, and Beyond—the poems capture the complexity of life’s emotional journey.
About LindaAnn LoSchiavo
LindaAnn LoSchiavo is a US-based poet and writer whose work has been published widely in literary journals. Known for her use of formal verse, LoSchiavo’s poetry addresses universal themes with a focus on memory, love, trauma, and the passage of time. She is the author of multiple poetry collections and has received critical acclaim for her compelling and thought-provoking writing.
For interviews, review copies, signings, guesting, or further information, please contact LindaAnn LoSchiavo directly via courting.mae.west@gmail.com.
