An Honest Answer

"The presiding spirit behind Ginger Andrews first book, An Honest Answer, must be William Carlos Williams. When he said he wrote in the speech of Polish mothers, he could have included the American working class anywhere. The sinewy resilience in Andrews’ individual poems honors the tradition of his free verse lyrics. She listens for the poetic measure in American speech and reproduces it in unique forms. I would venture to say that the poetry of Ginger Andrews is as close to the tradition of Williams as American free verse has ever been. . . . As for the voice speaking to us in these poems, it is as fresh as Ray Carver seemed twenty-five years ago. Another poet who comes to mind is her fellow Northwesterner Vern Rutsala, himself a descendent of Williams, who, like Williams, has kept his eye on the working poor throughout his career. Andrews is working class, born again in Sappho, an Ahkmatova who cleans houses and teaches Sunday school. These figures come to mind not for the sake of hyperbole, but to help understand the originality of this new and remarkable poet."
—Mark Jarman

Ginger Andrews was born in North Bend, Oregon, in 1956. Her poems have appeared in The Hudson Review, Poetry, River Sedge, Fireweed, and The American Voice. In 1997, she received the Mary Scheirman Poetry Award at the Coos Bay Writers Conference. She cleans houses for a living, and is a janitor and Sunday school teacher at North Bend Church of Christ. An Honest Answer is the winner of the twelfth Annual Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize.