Smoke and Strong Whiskey [Paperback]

Robin Chapman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 2008

The poems of Robin Chapman's Smoke and Strong Whiskey sing their own special blues, evoking the darkness and joy in human experience in a manner that connects us all, these songs sad but beautiful in their wisdom.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"These are moving meditations that shift with resonant grace between their Alpine setting and the quick inner space of the poet."--Don McKay, author of Strike/Slip, Camber: Selected Poems, Another Gravity

"The precision of these poems gives me winter and solitude in Banff, Canada, and a turning away from busyness that is a turning towards the hidden. Out of the stillness in which she sits, Robin Chapman deftly gathers up `the dazzle / and sorrow, dazzle and light, that link [our] days,' to discover a place where the heart is full and awake. She wakes my heart, too. Smoke and Strong Whiskey is a lovely antidote to the scurry of too-busy lives."--Maureen Scott Harris, author of A Possible Landscape and Drowning Lessons

"Intense interaction with the natural world forms the consoling core of Smoke and Strong Whiskey. Whether Chapman is writing about a snow-clad Canadian forest or the more domesticated landscape of Wisconsin, she sweeps the readers into her vividly drawn landscapes and draws them into her process of discovery and recognition. In Chapman's original, compelling poems, nature restores the human spirit. Reading these poems will restore yours."--Jesse Lee Kercheval, author of Dog Angel and World as Dictionary

About the Author

Robin Chapman is the author of ten collections of poetry, including Images of a Complex World: The Art and Poetry of Chaos (World Scientific; with J.C. Sprott's fractal art), winner of the Posner Poetry Award; The Only Everglades in the World (Parallel Press); and The Dreamer Who Counted the Dead (WordTech Editions). She co-edited the anthology On Retirement: 75 Poems (University of Iowa Press). A recipient of two individual artist development grants and a Literary Arts Fellowship from the Wisconsin Arts Board, her poems have appeared in The American Scholar, The Hudson Review, OnEarth, and Poetry, among many other journals, and the anthologies Poetry Comes Up Where It Can, Prayers to Protest, The First Yes, and Study in Grey. Professor emerita of Communicative Disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she teaches poetry workshops at The Clearing. Her blog posts an almost-daily poem from fellow poets with one of her watercolors at Robin Chapman's Poem A Day Blog. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband Will Zarwell.

Product Details

• Paperback: 92 pages
• Publisher: WordTech Communications (February 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933456965
• ISBN-13: 978-1933456966
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,492,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially recommended for reading when taking a rest during outdoors hikes or walks, June 14, 2008

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smoke and Strong Whiskey (Paperback)

Award-winning poet Robin Chapman presents Smoke and Strong Whiskey, her latest free-verse poetry collection. Emphasizing connection and interaction with the natural world, Smoke and Strong Whiskey immerses the reader in the timeless, frozen moments of experiencing a moment of empathy with the stark, wild beauty of nature. Especially recommended for reading when taking a rest during outdoors hikes or walks. "Smoke Tree, 30 Below": There's a tree in the sky. / Its shadow branches / Stand out still and substantial / In the billowing white cloud / That pours from the building's smokestack. / Low sun has projected the shape of an aspen / Larger than life, unmoving, / On the river of smoke streaming by. / Light blazes / All around its dark edges: / Oh tall tree like memory, / There and not there / In the eye!