In her essays, as with her Pultizer Prize-winning poetry, Maxine Kumin is equally at ease musing over her garden or discussing poetic form, raising horses or critiquing the work of other poets. For Kumin, poetry is inseparable from daily life. Whether remembering the early days of courtship with her husband (who then worked at Los Alamos during the first nuclear tests) or observing a grandchild learning to swim, poetry is a natural part of the discussion, as when, during an MRI, she recounts the healing role of memorized poems: "Lying in my MRI tomb and doggedly reciting the poem against the terrible rapping, I realized what saved me..."
"Maxine Kumin's practical yet sensual New England reflections are a gift to any lover of the country."-New York Times Book Review
"Kumin, bless her heart, just gets better and better."-Library Journal
In addition to twelve volumes of poetry, Maxine Kumin has published books of essays, short stories, and novels, and collaborated on four children's books with the late Anne Sexton. The recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, she has also served as the Poet Laureate and was, until her recent controversial resignation, a chancellor at the Academy of American Poets. She lives with her husband, Victor, on a farm in central New Hampshire.
Table of Contents
Part One
Excerpts from a June Journal
Beans
June 1, 1991: Sleeping Late
June 16, 1991: Final Foal
Journal Entry, PoBiz, Texas
Notes from My Journal, Kyoto, December 1984
Part Two
Interstices
Swimming and Writing
Motherhood and Poetics
October 4, 1995
For Anne at Passover
Recitations
First Loves
Part Three
An Appreciation of Marianne Moore's Selected Letters
This Curious Silent Unrepresented Life
Josephine Jacobsen
Back to the Fairground: Mona Van Duyn
A Postcard from the Volcano
Essay on Robert Frost
Part Four
Trochee, Trimeter, and the MRI: On A Shropshire Lad
Gymnastics: The Villanelle
A Way of Staying Sane
Word for Word: "Poem for My Son"
Scrubbed Up and Sent to School
Part Five
Keynote Address, PEN-New Eng
Kumin concludes her essay "Swimming and Writing" with advice from master poet Rilke: "Keep holy all that befalls." In this wonderful miscellany, Kumin weaves together all the disparate elements of her life, and, yes, she makes them holy. As a writer, Kumin wears many hats: A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who has written novels and essays, she recently wrote a mystery (Quit Monks or Die!, LJ 7/99). Her latest work begins up close and personal with a series of journal entries. In one, she recounts a late night spent midwifing a foal in her New Hampshire barn; in another, she is left shaken after an airplane accident while en route to Japan. More than the in-depth look at the poetic life promised by the title, this memoir also offers an intriguing look at modern country life, shares Kumin's experiences of being both a mother and an artist, and delves into the her deep 18-year friendship with Anne Sexton. Also included are several poems with Kumin's own discussions on form and content. The prose is highly readable, full of humor and insight, and each essay brims with a kind of grace. Highly recommended for all collections.DDoris Lynch, Monroe Cty. P.L., Bloomington, IN
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
