BY FAYE M. DASEN

Features Editor

Poetry abounds Sunday, March 25, at 2 p.m. at The Country Bookshop as Anthony Abbott and Malaika King Albrecht read from their recently published books.

An award-winning poet and novelist, Anthony S. Abbott is the author of five books of poetry, including the Pulitzer-nominated "The Girl in the Yellow Raincoat."

His newest book, "If Words Could Save Us," was released in October.

Abbott is also the author of two novels, the highly acclaimed "Leaving Maggie Hope" and its sequel, "The Three Great Secret Things."

He joined the English department at Davidson College in 1964, becoming a full professor in 1979. He served as department chairman from 1989 to 1996.

Abbott's poems have appeared in numerous magazines and journals.

Scott Owens, in a review for Wild Goose Poetry Review, says of Abbott's latest book, "As such Abbott wants to be read and understood. Fortunately for all of us, he possesses the drive and the skill with language, imagery and observation necessary to ensure that he will produce, we will read, and everyone will be richer for the experience."

Albrecht is the author of "What The Trapeze Artist Trusts," published by Press 53.

Reviewer and author Sally Buckner comments on the book jacket, "Someone has said that the work of literature is to strip us of illusions, forcing us to face the starkness of reality. Similarly, Malaika King Albrecht writes 'Seeing becomes a study / of loss in slow motion.' In this collection, written in brilliantly vivid language and with searing honesty, she describes the results of such seeing: loss of expectations, of relationships, of a sense of self. But despite a litany of loss, this is not a cantata of despair; hope and grace flutter among the lines. Read this collection and you will never see the world - or yourself - the same way again."

Albrecht's chapbook "Lessons in Forgetting" was published by Main Street Rag and was a finalist in the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and received honorable mention in the Brockman Campbell Award.

She is also the author of "Spill," and her poems have been published in many literary magazines and anthologies and have won awards at the North Carolina Poetry Council, Salem College and Press 53.

Albrecht is the founding editor of Redheaded Stepchild, an online magazine that only accepts poems that have been rejected elsewhere. She lives in Pinehurst with her family and is a therapeutic riding instructor.

Contact Faye Dasen at fdasen@ thepilot.com.