Poetry. New to SPD. Barry Ballard's collection of lyrical blank verse sonnets inhabit contemporary settings and tell stories with precise imagery and metaphor. With a strong emphasis on environmental and social issues, Ballard's writing evolved and settled on the contemporary sonnet. In the past two years, over 200 of his sonnets have been published in literary journals across the country. He has received an award for literature fom the University of Alaska, and GREEN TOMBS TO JUPITER, Ballard's first collection, is the winner of the 2000 Snail's Pace Poetry Prize.