The Return of Artz Carbuncle: A Poem in Prose and Verse

The Return of Artz Carbuncle: A Poem in Prose and Verse A Poet Reflects on the Growth and Transformations of the Self The Return of Artz Carbuncle: A Poem in Prose and Verse presents an unusual variation on many of the themes of contemporary poetry. It is the third volume in a series of books devoted to the writings of a fictive poet who goes by the stage name of Artz Carbuncle. Artz dedicates this work to 'Mr. B, ' his friend and literary advisor, "in the hope that it may help him to hear another man tell his story." The five sections of The Return of Artz Carbuncle develop a version of Nietzsche's portrayal in Thus Spoke Zarathustra of three metamorphoses of the spirit: from a beast of burden, to defiant lion in the desert, to the self-becoming creativity of a child. Even so, the book is the darkest of the selections of Artz' writing. It grapples with moral, psychological and social issues in the context of the increasing stresses and failures of American culture and values during the early years of the twenty-first century. These issues are portrayed in the individual experiences of the author's literary persona, as he reflects on his own and his friend's struggles with personal identity and integrity. As Artz notes elsewhere, his relationship with Mr. B has developed in such a way that the pronouns 'you' and 'I' no longer serve to distinguish them. Three of the book's five sections are prose narratives. The first, portraying the efforts of Professor A.I. Roomer to draft an address to the Convention of Philosophers of Rhetorical Enquiry, is a sympathetic if deeply satirical view of academic life and striving. The second prose piece also engages an academic context: it reveals the relationship between Professor Remoor (an archaeologist studying the abandoned desert community of Yellow Sty) and an indigenous local named Sonairda who is devoted to a belief in the power of nature to defy rational expectation. The third narrative celebrates the innocent wisdom

Ty Bouldin: born in West Virginia in 1947, he attended undergraduate school at Concord College between 1965 and 1969, graduating with a major in English and minor in Philosophy. In 1971, he was granted a Master's degree from Miami University of Ohio, with a concentration in American Literature. In late summer of 1972, he was hired to teach English Composition, literature, and humanities at West Virginia State College after which he and his wife, Susan, were married in September. In 1983, he was granted a sabbatical to study Composition and Rhetoric at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Between 1988 and 2003, he served as an administrator and teacher in the Composition Program at The University of Arizona in Tucson. He retired in 2003, returning with his wife to their mountain home in West Virginia.