Poetry. What makes for the connection that unites a collection of people to form a nation, a civilization? What shapes their consciousness into considerations beyond the self and into the humanity of the whole? These are some of the concerns that inform Joe Ross's AN AMERICAN VOYAGE, a lyrical investigation into the roots, make-up, and hopes of America and the American individual. In the tradition of other American attempts at answering such questions (Whitman's "Song of Myself" comes to mind), Ross's work attempts to define a nation too young to "know," but old enough to consider the consequences of not knowing. Divided into three major sections—the first of which addresses our beginnings, the second of which explores the "stalemate" of the adolescence in which the author sees contemporary America, and the third of which sings to the heart of the people—Ross's ambitious song cries out for a true American language, a voice of the soul.

Author City: PARIS FRA

Author of twelve books of poetry, Joe Ross was born in Pennsylvania and graduated magna cum laude from the Honors Program at Temple University in Philadelphia. He soon moved thereafter to Washington, D.C. where he wrote his first book, GUARDS OF THE HEART, consisting of four plays written in poetic form. In Washington, D.C., he worked at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and was extraordinarily active in the cultural scene of that city. He served as the President of the Board of the Poetry Committee at The Folger Shakespeare Library from 1994-1997 and as the Literary Editor of the arts bimonthly The Washington Review from 1991-1997. He also co-founded and directed the In Your Ear poetry reading series at the District of Columbia Arts Center. In 1997 he moved to San Diego, where he worked for the City of San Diego Commission's for Arts and Culture. In 1999, he left that position to put his poetics into practice, and to work directly in politics. He served as the Senior Chief of Policy for several elected officials. He also continued to be very active in the San Diego cultural scene, serving as a board member of the San Diego Art Institute and co-founding and curating the Beyond the Page reading series in that city. In 1997 he received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award for his poetry. He currently resides in Paris.

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