December 21, 2004: Headlines: COS - Estonia: Writing - Estonia: Poetry: Awards: Amazon: Ark: Poems by Estonia RPCV John Isles
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December 21, 2004: Headlines: COS - Estonia: Writing - Estonia: Poetry: Awards: Alameda Times-Star: Estonia RPCV John Isles wins coveted NEA poetry award :
December 21, 2004: Headlines: COS - Estonia: Writing - Estonia: Poetry: Awards: Amazon: Ark: Poems by Estonia RPCV John Isles
Ark: Poems by Estonia RPCV John Isles
Ark: Poems by Estonia RPCV John Isles
Ark: Poems (Kuhl House Poets)
by John Isles
John Isles grew up in Setauket, New York, and now lives in Oakland, California. After graduating from SUNY Stony Brook, he joined the Peace Corps and taught English in Estonia. He attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop and has published poems in such magazines as Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Pleiades, and ZYZZYVA.
Product Description:
Available September 2003 John Isles's Ark is about the people and events that pass through a life, leaving a void; about finding a presence in that absence and waking up to the realities of the present moment. It is concerned, at its watery heart, with discovery and confrontation, uncovering and witnessing, whether it be the new world, “the world behind every blouse,” or the tender mysteries that can only be seen through the eyes of belief: that which “starts the wild grasses trembling.”
With its deft maneuvers through both a historical and an emotional landscape, Ark speaks to us with a truly contemporary voice of authoritative vulnerability while never faltering into sentimental digressions. This uncanny authority at the helm of our ark continually surprises us, unfolding its lyrical gems and treasures culled along the journey, letting us in on the inscrutable facts of this life.
Isles began building his Ark out of a single desire to confront the deaths of loved ones. The book begins in a troubled present moment, with the speaker portrayed as an island, distant from other humans and from the events of history. The second section inhabits a half-historical, half-mythic landscape that exists in a deluge of time and where the characters, ranging from Caliban and Prospero to Hiawatha and others, are all used to “shore against my ruins.” The void the dead leave behind now becomes a presence in the lives of the living. The final section of the book is an attempt to return to reality, to build an ark of language, to become more involved with a complex, living world.
From “As One with Foot in Mouth”
As stray air brushing bare boards.
As light bending over a pair of shoes,
as musty coat holding the sole remains
of human shape.
As flood, as as . . .
profusion of darkness, red and yellow dahlias,
a chest of drawers, all furniture confounded.
All gathering together.
When this story was posted in December 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia." |
| Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors. |
| The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn. |
| Charges possible in 1976 PCV slaying Congressman Norm Dicks has asked the U.S. attorney in Seattle to consider pursuing charges against Dennis Priven, the man accused of killing Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner on the South Pacific island of Tonga 28 years ago. Background on this story here and here. |
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Story Source: Amazon
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Estonia; Writing - Estonia; Poetry; Awards
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