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Kate Buckley's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Bellingham
Review, The Cafe Review, North American Review, Shenandoah,
Slipstream and elsewhere. She is the author of
A Wild Region (Moon Tide Press, 2008); a second book, Follow
Me Down, is forthcoming from Tebot Bach (2009). Her awards
include a Gabeheart Prize and the North American Review's
2008
James Hearst
Poetry Prize.
Praise for A Wild Region:
"A ribbon of Appalachia winds through Kate Buckley’s vigorous
voice in her debut collection of poems, A Wild Region.
It was my pleasure to choose her as the winner of the 2008 James
Hearst Poetry Prize for the North American Review, and
it is an equal pleasure to welcome this book of poems, crafted
from the patterns of speech of the wild region Buckley loves
and the wildness of its people, too."
— Molly
Peacock
"Kate Buckley's poems are dark prayers and lyrical
ballads, infused with mystery and awe... And the stories these
poems tell —
finely crafted as the poems are —
are stories that speak to all of us, accessible and clear for
all their complicated depth, 'universal' precisely because they're
so deeply personal, and so deeply felt. There is so much stunning
language in this collection, so much accuracy and grace, and
there are so many images that take my breath away... Kate Buckley
shows us how the beautiful and the brutal can not only coexist
alongside one another, but exist within one another. Hers is
a necessary and welcome new voice."
— Cecilia
Woloch
"Many of the poems recall the work of poet Andrew Hudgins,
both for their subject matter and use of forms. Perhaps these
rhythms are a kind of heritage of the song and music of the
culture that feature heavily in their poetry. Like Hudgins,
Buckley can convey the physical and emotional violence of characters
without apology, presenting people as they were and laying bare
their choices without too much explanation... W.H. Auden once
said “a poem is like a story . . . with all the boring parts
left out.” Buckley certainly has many stories to tell... And
she is a gifted storyteller... Perhaps, this is Buckley’s intent
in many of her poems -- to take the chaotic and random pieces
and make them fit, make them record a life, like a handmade
quilt. Buckley’s poems are as beautiful and well-crafted."
— Allison Elliott, The Adirondack Review
"A Wild Region is a family history in verse as well
as a lovely elegy for Buckley's grandmother set in a Kentucky
that is both pastoral and industrial: 'I have ridden on horseback
/ under the harvest moon, gold and heavy' vs. 'the coughs that
stained your linens black / no matter how many times you bleached
them...' The elegies are especially moving: 'her wispy hair,
fine as floss / cotton against the pale earth of her skull'
and 'I cradle her, cradle her, and rock her home.' Pick up this
book. (Buckley won this year's Hearst Poetry Prize.)"
— Vince Gotera, North American Review
Watch
Kate read the poem of occasion at the Laguna Beach Inaugural
Gala (1/20/09)
Listen
to Kate read from & discuss A Wild Region on NPR
affiliate, WUKY's, Tonic: Arts & Music Magazine
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