Margaret Hasse was among the remarkable generation of young poets who came of age in the 1970s and 80s with the publication of her first book, Stars Above, Stars Below . Forty years and many publications later, she presents us here in Belongings with a retrospective look at her multifaceted achievement along with a generous selection of recent poems bearing witness to a tirelessly curious and creative mind. These poems remain rooted in events of daily life—reading a book, taking a child to the bus-stop, gardening—events that Hasse may ponder and describe with a startling sense of whimsy or a deep moral concern. Often both. The result is a rich tapestry of "belongings" that extends from cherished personal memories outward into a skein of relationships as rich and vivid as life itself.
Margaret Hasse began reading and writing poetry as a child and never stopped. She grew up in South Dakota and attended college in California where she earned a B.A. in English from Stanford University. After moving to Minnesota in 1973 she became deeply involved in its rapidly growing literary community. Over the years Margaret taught writing in correctional facilities, at The Loft Literary Center, for COMPAS Poets-in-the-Schools, as a freelancer, among other places. Alongside writing and teaching poetry Margaret worked for and as an adviser to arts organizations in the state and nationally. She also obtained an M.A. in English (with a creative writing emphasis) from the University of Minnesota.
Margaret's poetry has been widely published, including in six full-length books, two chapbooks, a "new and selected" collection, and in journals, anthologies, and, remarkably, in St. Paul's sidewalks and on public transit. Her work as a poet has received recognition through a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, Loft McKnight Awards, Minnesota State Arts Board grants, and other honors. Margaret has lived in St. Paul for almost forty years with her husband, David Grothe, where they raised their two sons, Michael and Alex.
"In Hasse's work, moments of sudden realization feel like little Zen koans. They are also gifts, the kinds of gifts that only come because the poet has made a lifelong practice of paying attention, not only to the world inside her and her own past, but also to the world around her." — Jim Moore
"Within the word that names this book, I think about the poet be-ing in the complex and bountiful worlds she writes from, and I consider her longing, what is longed for, and in what myriad ways she answers this huge idea of belonging. In all Hasse writes about, we witness her extraordinary gifts as maker of image, her deep understanding of tone, and her willingness to convey the essence of her assigned and chosen worlds. Here is a poet worth celebrating." — Deborah Keenan
