Cowboy Poetry Matters: From Abilene to the Mainstream: Contemporary Cowboy Writing (Paperback)

~ Robert McDowell (Editor) "He sits by a battered old table That rivals his three-score-and-ten, Its surface worn smooth by the cups and the plates And the coats of..." (more)
Key Phrases: new popular poetry, cowboy poetry, cowboy poem, Cowboy Poetry Gathering, New York, Badger Clark (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The poets in McDowell's anthology take up one challenge set forth in Dana Gioia's renowned 1991 essay, "Can Poetry Matter?" --to re-engage with the world of work. These are poems about labor by poets who, even if they don't now ranch or farm, know plenty about working horses. Most know cattle raising, though they don't write much in its lingo. Certainly cultural nostalgia for the Wild West hooks us into reading the poems, but nostalgia and the rugged individualism with which cowboys are thoughtlessly encumbered aren't their stock-in-trade. Instead, the qualities that predominate are hard, painful work; the fellowship of those, including the horses, who do it; and the stunning beauties and otherness of the natural world in which it is done. Yes, many poems are sentimental, but they don't all rhyme or trip along in ballad meters, and many of the best are by women, especially Linda M. Hasslestrom, Linda Hussa, and Linda McCarriston. The accompanying memoirs by Hussa and Wallace McRae are also outstanding, and the critical essays that round out the book aren't bad, either. Ray Olson
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Review

The Medicine Keepers by J. B. Allen
Nighthawk Notions by J. B. Allen
Reasons For Stayin' by J. B. Allen
Treasures by J. B. Allen
Wisps by J. B. Allen
The Lion by Virginia Bennett
Social Justice by Virginia Bennett
Such Control by Virginia Bennett
Tapestry Of Knots by Virginia Bennett
Calvin' by Jon Bowerman
The Hunter by Jon Bowerman
Last Visit With The Banker by Jon Bowerman
The Runaways by Jon Bowerman
The Saturday Matinee by Jon Bowerman
Charlie Jones by Robert R. Brown
Mysterious Maiden by Robert R. Brown
Old Never by Robert R. Brown
Bareback by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Kneading Bread by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Letters by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Madge by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Smell Of Sage by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Sunderance by Laurie Wagner Buyer
When I Came West by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Wooing The Wanton Mare by Laurie Wagner Buyer
The Aliens by John Dofflemeyer
One, April by John Dofflemeyer
To Have A Man by John Dofflemeyer
Twenty-sixth Winter by John Dofflemeyer
After This by Tami Haaland
August by Tami Haaland
Finding The Trail by Tami Haaland
Names Of Horses by Donald Hall
Beef Eater by Linda M. Hasselstrom
Butchering The Crippled Heifer by Linda M. Hasselstrom
Coffee Cup Cafe by Linda M. Hasselstrom
Hands by Linda M. Hasselstrom
Haying: A Four-part Definition by Linda M. Hasselstrom
My Last Will And Testament by Linda M. Hasselstrom
What The Falcon Said by Linda M. Hasselstrom
Dear Child by Linda Hussa
Give Us Rain! by Linda Hussa
I Fix The Fence - The Fence Fixes Me by Linda Hussa
In The Evening Autumn by Linda Hussa
Love Letters by Linda Hussa
The Man Shoeing A Horse And His Little Girl by Linda Hussa
Playing At Doctor by Linda Hussa
Swans by Linda Hussa
The Barn by Tony Johnston
So Many Horses by Tony Johnston
To The Wild Pony by Tony Johnston
Whispers by Tony Johnston
The Agnostic Speaks To Her Horse's Hoof by Maxine W. Kumin
Amanda In Shod by Maxine W. Kumin
Feeding Time by Maxine W. Kumin
Thinking Of Death And Dogfood by Maxine W. Kumin
Bucked by Linda Mccarriston
Girl From Lynn Bathes Horse!! by Linda Mccarriston
Le Coursier De Jeanne D'arc by Linda Mccarriston
On Horseback by Linda Mccarriston
Riding Out At Evening by Linda Mccarriston
A Thousand Genuflections by Linda Mccarriston
With The Horse In The Winter Pasture by Linda Mccarriston
Grandmother's French Hollyhocks by Wallace Mcrae
Malcolm And The Stranglers by Wallace Mcrae
Riders' Block by Wallace Mcrae
Sold To The Highest Bidder by Wallace Mcrae
Things Of Intrinsic Worth by Wallace Mcrae
We Never Rode The Judiths by Wallace Mcrae
A Woman's Place by Wallace Mcrae
Breaker In The Pen by Joel Nelson
The Men Who Ride No More by Joel Nelson
The Shadow On The Cutbank by Joel Nelson
Shady Valleys by Joel Nelson
Song Of The Packer by Joel Nelson
Breaking Poets by Thelma Poirier
Family Fences by Thelma Poirier
Hellfire by Thelma Poirier
Anthem by Buck Ramsey
Bum Thinking Nowhere Near A Horse by Buck Ramsey
Child Of The Plains by Buck Ramsey
Notes For A Novel; I. by Buck Ramsey
Notes For A Novel; Ii. by Buck Ramsey
Notes For A Novel; Iii. by Buck Ramsey
Notes For A Novel; Iv. by Buck Ramsey
Notes For A Novel; V. by Buck Ramsey
Notes For A Novel; Vi. by Buck Ramsey
A Ponder by Buck Ramsey
Season Song by Buck Ramsey
Songdog by Buck Ramsey
My Pony by Liam Rector
Ashes, After Fire by Andy Wilkinson
Benediction After A Gathering Of Cowboy Poets by Andy Wilkinson
A Prairie Mother's Prayer by Andy Wilkinson
The Red-tail Hawk by Andy Wilkinson
Says Harry by Andy Wilkinson
The Stump-grubbers by Andy Wilkinson
When The Devil Plays His Fiddle by Andy Wilkinson
All This Way For The Short Ride by Paul Zarzyski
Bizarzyski, Mad Poet And Carpenter Savant, Feeds The Birds by Paul Zarzyski
Buck by Paul Zarzyski
Hip-cocked Broncs by Paul Zarzyski
The Meaning Of Intimacy by Paul Zarzyski
One Sweet Evening Just This Year by Paul Zarzyski
Putting The Rodeo Try Into Cowboy Poetry by Paul Zarzyski
To Wallace by Paul Zarzyski
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

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Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Story Line Press; First edition. edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885266898
• ISBN-13: 978-1885266897
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,183,633 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best anthology of cowboy poetry available today, June 3, 2000

By	Charles M. Nobles (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If this is not the first, it is undoubtedly the best, anthology of cowboy poetry available today. For many years I thought cowboy poetry was kind of, well, you know, cowboyish. That is, it was kind of cute in a nursery rhyme sort of way but was not really relevant when you compared it to real poetry. Fortunately, I was privideged to live in the west for four years and was introduced to some of the best poetry I have ever read. It was called, well, cowboy poetry! Not only was it as well written as any so-called mainstream poetry but it has a way of speaking to the reader that will forever change the way you view cowboy poetry. Thus, it was with great interest that I read Cowboy Poetry Matters. The book brings together some of the best and brightest cowboy poets writing today, most notably Linda Hussa, Linda Hasselstrom, and Laurie Buyer and places their work along side such well known mainstream poets as Donald Hall and Maxine Kumin. The result is a remarkable collection of poetry by diverse poets that discover they share a lot of common ground and that cowboy poetry can be, and is, as relevant and diverse as the poets. In addition to a feed bag full of wonderful poetry, the reader will find memoirs by Linda Hussa and Wallace McRae which will stir your soul. Not to be overlooked is a stimulating series of critical essays by Dana Gioia, Paul Zarzyski, and Kathy Ogren which will challenge you to view cowboy poetry in ways you may have never considered. I encourage readers that want to be introduced to some of the very best cowboy poetry available today to try this book. As they say in the west "How long has it been since you read some really bood cowboy poetry?" "Well pardner, that's to long."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wrangler poets . . ., January 21, 2005

By	Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Can poetry matter? Poet Dana Gioia raises and answers this question in his essay reprinted in this book. He argues that when poets took jobs in academia teaching creative writing, the practice of poetry criticism languished, allowing good poetry to be lost in a flood of the mediocre. While more poetry is being published now than ever, its audience has shrunk, and it no longer plays a role in the great public discourse on meaning and values in American culture.

Working against this trend, however, is the increasing popularity of cowboy poetry, with its growing audience of people who gather annually at cowboy poetry festivals across the country, including the granddaddy of them all in Elko, Nevada, now in its 21st year. Mostly unschooled in poetics, the writers of this poetry are cowboys, ranchers (both male and female), and others whose lives are informed by Western traditions. The spirit driving this output surely goes back to the nineteenth century, when cowboys entertained themselves and each other inventing and reciting doggerel verse about their daily lives and the things that mattered most to them.

Rooted as the West is in the rural past, its poetry often seems to come straight from the bedrock of essential American values and national character. Thus its appeal to many who can't relate to the ambiguities, ironies, and self-indulgence of more modern forms of literature. This volume of poems and essays tries to give cowboy poetry legitimacy as literature worthy of the attention it receives. And for the most part, it is successful.

Two of my favorite poets, rancher Wallace McRae and rodeo rider Paul Zarzisky, both from Montana, are represented in this anthology. Each pushes the envelope, creating poems that treat unexpected subjects (strip mining, racial discrimination) and depart from the standard abab rhyme scheme, four beats to the bar. Another favorite, poet and writer Linda Hasselstrom, from South Dakota, is also here. And I was taken by the wonderful, more personal poems of Californian Linda Hussa. Altogether there are 20 poets (including a few from the mainstream: Maxine Kumin, Donald Hall), each writing in distinctive styles, illustrating the range and vitality of this new-old cowboy tradition.

I loved this book and happily recommend it to anyone with an interest in the West and a curiosity about how poetry might once again speak to more of us.