Description
Poetry. "Joanne Clarkson's THE FATES is a relentlessly engaging collection; you'll be hooked from the start. 'Anything can be spun: mare's tail, thistle, / free will. My task is dust / and the sticky milk of love,' she writes, assuming the guise of one of her three presiding goddesses. Like them, she spins, measures, and cuts—birth, life, and death—with language as her vital thread. Whether exploring her personal history or the stories of widows coping with grief, at almost every turn Clarkson draws from her broad experience as a hospice nurse. These poems display a deep compassion; their wisdom has been earned; and always they guide us toward finding ways 'to beat back blues / and yellows, every bruise, and just release / into the terrible need to live.'" —Richard Foerster
Author Bio
Joanne M. Clarkson's previous collections include Believing the Body, published in 2014 by Gribble Press. She was awarded a Grant for Artist Projects from Artist Trust of Washington to help her complete THE FATES. Her poem "Klotho the Fibre Goddess Describes Fate" won first place in Northern Colorado Writers Annual Competition in 2015 and "Survivor" was selected by Emrys Journal in 2016 for their Nancy Dew Taylor "excellence in the art of poetry" award. Joanne has loved poetry since she was a child and her work has appeared in over 200 magazines and journals internationally. She has Master's Degrees in English and Library Science, has taught and worked as a professional librarian. After caring for her mother through a long illness, she re-careered as a Registered Nurse specializing in Home Health and Hospice care. In the spring of 2016, she published her first nonfiction book: There's Always a Miracle: True Stories of Life Before and After Death, about her time as a Hospice RN. Joanne lives in Olympia, Washington, with her husband James. She serves on the Board of the Olympia Poetry Network.
Author City: Olympia, WA USA