In "The Mapmaker and His Woman," the mapmaker narrator travels, in a few short hours, to Budapest, Salamanca, Punta Cana and Dusseldorf, but always returns home to the woman he loves. In another poem, Harry Houdini's critics attempt to suppress his opinions and negate his magical powers. In "The Groundskeeper's Teenage Daughters," young girls speak out against their domineering, controlling father. A prize-winning poem features the haunting voice of the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, who talks about her image appearing in her favorite mirror and how it effects the men who see it. The poems take you to variety of unique places: to a small Mexican village in the Yucatan, to the treacherous Gulf waters between Cuba and Florida, to a traveling carnival, to Bob Dylan's north country back roads, to outer space, a million miles from earth, then back to the isolated county roads in the rural heartland. Many poems focus on personal experiences, including childhood incidents and relationships with mothers, fathers and lovers. One section of the book, entitled "Borders: In Some Other Country," throws a spotlight on political and social issues, with wry and poignant poems about the repression of free speech, the use of nuclear weapons, gender roles, and the prevalence of gun violence. Another section in the collection features characterizations of famous American icons such as Albert Einstein, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, James Dean, and the 19th century classic poet, Walt Whitman. These poems reverberate beyond the celebrities to make unique comments about American life and culture. Sometimes comic, sometimes poignant, the poems in The Mapmaker's Dream take you on journeys to places you never expected to go, and to characters you never dreamed you'd meet.
Author and teacher Bill Meissner has published four previous collections of poetry: American Compass (U. of Notre Dame Press), Learning to Breathe Underwater and The Sleepwalker's Son (Ohio U. Press) and Twin Sons of Different Mirrors (Milkweed Editions). His chapbook with a carnival/circus theme is The Glass Carnival (Paper Soul Press). He's also the author of two books of short stories: Hitting into the Wind (Random House Publishers/SMU Press paperback/Dzanc Press ebook) and The Road to Cosmos (U. of Notre Dame Press). His first novel, Spirits in the Grass (U. of Notre Dame Press), was awarded the Midwest Book Award. Meissner is the recipient of several awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, two Loft McKnight Fellowships in poetry and fiction, a Loft-McKnight Award of Distinction in Fiction, several PEN/NEA Syndicated Fiction Awards for short stories, and a Jerome Fellowship for travel/study in Mexico. His poems have been published and anthologized widely during the past years. Several poems included in The Mapmaker's Dream have won awards, including "Song for the Refugees," which was selected as a finalist in the 2018 International Poetry Competition, sponsored by The Atlanta Review. Bill's hobbies/interests include travel (especially to tropical locations), rock music, baseball, and photography. He also collects pulp fiction magazines, music memorabilia, and (too many) vintage typewriters. He has taught creative writing at St. Cloud State University, and, as a visiting writer, he frequently presents workshops at local elementary schools, high schools and colleges. He grew up in Iowa and Wisconsin, and lives in St. Cloud, Minnesota with his wife Christine.
