The author shares a collection of musings full of insight and whimsy on the conundrums of poetic art. She begins by asking herself why poetry exists, what it does for us, and why we're afraid of it, and concludes with a poem thanking those who have driven through the dark to attend a reading, with many unexpected shifts in mood and focus in between. Some of the poems are deeply personal, as she reminisces about good times with friends and fellow poets, some of them no longer with us. Others take the form of an instruction manual, offering advice on "the basic plot" and "the art of revision." It's a world of words in service to emotion, conveyed with the light touch of a late-night fireside conversation at an artist's colony.
Joyce Sutphen was raised on a farm in Stearns County, Minnesota. She is a professor emeritus of English at Gustavus Adolphus College and served as Minnesota's poet laureate from 2011 to 2021. She is the author of numerous books of poetry, among them That Other Life, This Long Winter, and Carrying Water to the Field: New and Selected Poems.
"Joyce Sutphen's many collections of poems are well-loved for all good reasons. She sees the world with a poet's eyes. She's at ease, confident, smart, and maybe most importantly, she delights in poetry itself, and the creating of poems. And here we are, with this abundant collection of poetry, poems about the writing of poems, many instruction poems, but accomplished with such a light touch, such precise stanzas and lines we just nod in agreement as her poems settle into our consciousness." — Deborah Keenan
"Offering a kind of lyric manual for poets, Joyce Sutphen instructs us in how to write, read, and listen to poetry as much with the heart as the mind. Some pages remind us how to pay attention to the world, in others she ties her thoughts in knots in search of that one true thing, teasing out the essence of writing a poem in the moment of its creation. As the book progresses, its concerns grow wider and wilder, yet the poems are delivered in plain spoken language throughout. Much richness awaits!" — Richard Terrill
"Poetry and the poetic process itself are subject matter of many of the poems in Joyce Sutphen's lively new collection. With an appealing Emily Dickinson-like blend of whimsy and wisdom, Sutphen plays with words and content as she explores the nature of inspiration, the challenges and delights of setting words to the page, and the pleasures of reading and learning poems by heart. Readers will enjoy a literary treasure hunt as they discover lines from other poets that Sutphen has woven into her own, reminding us that poetry speaks through many voices. Her poems about time and aging resonate with special grace and tenderness." — Margaret Hasse
