Of This River
Published on 1. August 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
88 pages
978-1-61186-374-1 (ISBN)
Description
In a stunning and visceral debut, Noah Davis ushers in a new era of poems from the Alleghenyregion of Appalachia. In chronicling the river valley's human and more-than-human worlds through acts of modern myth making, Davis expands the scope of contemporary American poetry. This soulful meditation on a neglected region of America reveals a legacy of lingering violence to land and animal alike. In striking stories and scenes, Davis portrays the spiritual cost of deep poverty, the necessity to ask for forgiveness, and the joy in praising the beauty still found in the steep hollows. These poems will cling to you like water on the soles of your boots.
Reviews / Votes
"In this enchanting and at times unsettling new collection, Noah Davis delivers poems set in the Allegheny region of Appalachia. The central character is Short-Haired Girl, whose experiences of abject poverty and encounters with the natural world reveal to us the land on which she and her family has lived for generations. This is a polyphonic collection; some of the voices are those of Snapping Turtle and Brown Trout. Even the compost pile has its utterances. Taken together, these voices demonstrate how everything is connected, and how attacks on the land and its animals are not without consequences for the people who live there, too." * Lit Hub * "Noah Davis is a poet whose capacious imagination runs on river sounds and open air. His remarkable debut, Of This River, fashions a modern myth from pastoral tragedy. Davis has written a poetic apologue of remembrance, one that helps clarify our irrefutable, yet tenuous place in this world."-ADRIAN MATEJKA, 2014 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Poetry and author of Map to the Stars
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
East Lansing
United States
Publishing group
Michigan State University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight
136 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-61186-374-1 (9781611863741)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
NOAH DAVIS grew up in Tipton, Pennsylvania, and writes about the Allegheny Front. His poems and prose have appeared in Best New Poets, Orion Magazine, North American Review, River Teeth Journal, Sou'wester, and
Chautauqua, among others.
Chautauqua, among others.
Content
Contents
First Memory of Water
Drowning as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Small Histories
Woman Who Will Be Short-Haired Girl's Mother Plants Potatoes after a Night Trying to Conceive
Short-haired girl
Corpuscular
Ridge and Valley as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Skins
Learning to Talk to Animals as Told by Short-Haired Girl
Saint Francis
Short-Haired Girl Visits Her Cousin Who Moved Back Home Last Week
Woman Who Catches Kingfishers
Short-Haired Girl Goes to Church
Thursday nights
How Blood Becomes the River
Brown Trout Tells Short-Haired Girl about the End of October
Short-Haired Girl's Brother Watches Her Gut a Deer
Dream in Which I Sin and Weep Myself Awake
Kissing the Woman Carried in Bear's Mouth
Hunger
The Language of Silt
Coyote Tells Short-Haired Girl about Loving His Brother
The Story of the Raven King as Told by Short-Haired Girl's Brother
Murmuration on Bell Tip Road
Lightnin' Hopkins Returns as a Bluetick Hound
Short-Haired Girl's Grandmother Speaks of the Dead
What Names the Moon Gives
Short-Haired Girl's Aunt Tells Her about November Again
In fields where junco
What Was Left
Short-Haired Girl Praises a Child on a Horse
Mending
Short-Haired Girl's Aunt Tells Her about the Woman Who Eats the River
Feeding Hogs as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Every day is a god
Oil as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Winter Solstice
Short-Haired Girl's Dead Cousin Visits
June Evening
Short-Haired Girl's Father Catalogues Summer Afternoon
First Love as Told by Short-Haired Girl
Map of the Body
Short-Haired Girl Dreams of Her Family
Menstruation as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Lottery Tickets
Short-Haired Girl Visits Her Brother
August Market
Snapping Turtle Tells Short-Haired Girl about Loneliness
What It Means for the Bear to Eat Ash
February New Moon
Short-Haired Girl's Father Confesses Her Conception
Short-Haired Girl Stops Going to Church
First Memory of Water
Drowning as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Small Histories
Woman Who Will Be Short-Haired Girl's Mother Plants Potatoes after a Night Trying to Conceive
Short-haired girl
Corpuscular
Ridge and Valley as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Skins
Learning to Talk to Animals as Told by Short-Haired Girl
Saint Francis
Short-Haired Girl Visits Her Cousin Who Moved Back Home Last Week
Woman Who Catches Kingfishers
Short-Haired Girl Goes to Church
Thursday nights
How Blood Becomes the River
Brown Trout Tells Short-Haired Girl about the End of October
Short-Haired Girl's Brother Watches Her Gut a Deer
Dream in Which I Sin and Weep Myself Awake
Kissing the Woman Carried in Bear's Mouth
Hunger
The Language of Silt
Coyote Tells Short-Haired Girl about Loving His Brother
The Story of the Raven King as Told by Short-Haired Girl's Brother
Murmuration on Bell Tip Road
Lightnin' Hopkins Returns as a Bluetick Hound
Short-Haired Girl's Grandmother Speaks of the Dead
What Names the Moon Gives
Short-Haired Girl's Aunt Tells Her about November Again
In fields where junco
What Was Left
Short-Haired Girl Praises a Child on a Horse
Mending
Short-Haired Girl's Aunt Tells Her about the Woman Who Eats the River
Feeding Hogs as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Every day is a god
Oil as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Winter Solstice
Short-Haired Girl's Dead Cousin Visits
June Evening
Short-Haired Girl's Father Catalogues Summer Afternoon
First Love as Told by Short-Haired Girl
Map of the Body
Short-Haired Girl Dreams of Her Family
Menstruation as Taught by Short-Haired Girl
Lottery Tickets
Short-Haired Girl Visits Her Brother
August Market
Snapping Turtle Tells Short-Haired Girl about Loneliness
What It Means for the Bear to Eat Ash
February New Moon
Short-Haired Girl's Father Confesses Her Conception
Short-Haired Girl Stops Going to Church