Synopses & Reviews
Throughout her career, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Maxine Kumin has been at the vanguard of discussions about feminism and sexism, the state of poetry, and our place in the natural world. The Roots of Things gathers into one volume her best essays on the issues that have been closest to her throughout her storied career.
Divided into sections on "Taking Root," "Poets and Poetry," and "Country Living," these pieces reveal Kumin honing her views within a variety of forms, including speeches, critical essays, and introductions of other writers work. Whether she is recollecting scenes from her childhood, ruminating on the ups and downs of what she calls "pobiz" (for "poetry business"), describing the battles shes fought on behalf of women, or illuminating the lives of animals, Kumin offers insight that can only be born of long and closely observed experience.
About the Author
Maxine Kumin is the author of sixteen books of poems, including Up Country, winner of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize, and the forthcoming New & Selected Poetry; a memoir; three essay collections; a collection of short stories; four novels; and an animal rights murder mystery. She served as consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress before that post was renamed poet laureate of the United States, and as the poet laureate of New Hampshire from 1989 to 1994. She lives in New Hampshire.