Description
According to the preface to Don Welch's latest collection of poems, "Gnomes" are defined as: short expressions, from a word meaning judgment, opinion, purpose; of, or pertaining to, someone originally Greek, especially a poet. A species of diminutive beings, usually shriveled old men who troll interiors, guarding earth's treasures.
This is an apt description of Welch's book, indeed. The senior poet of Nebraska and the Great Plains, Don Welch may sardonically regard himself as the "shriveled old man" who both explores the Plains' interiors and, by writing about them, becomes the protector of the earth's treasures.
The gnomes in this collection are beautiful little crystals of verse, reminiscent of the brevity of ancient Chinese poetry but purposefully armed with the occidental twists of language and experience that only someone immersed and baptized in the spirit of the local can wield. Welch's poems are vertical moments for our busy horizontal lives. They are like pendants of beaded water, their careful silences speaking loudly through our din.
About the Author
Don Welch is a Nebraska native and the author of many collections of poetry, including Dead Horse Table, Handwork, The Rarer Game, The Keeper of Miniature Deer, Inklings: Poems Old and New, and Gutter Flowers. His most recent collection, When Memory Gives Dust a Face, was published by Lewis-Clark Press in 2008, and a new collection, Distractions, is forthcoming from Backwaters Press. In 1980, Welch won the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, judged by William Stafford. He retired as Reynolds Poetry Professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, but he has recently been re-appointed to that post as Interim Reynolds Poetry Professor for 2012-2013.
Book Information
ISBN 9781622880355
Author Don Welch
Format Hardback
Page Count 80
Imprint Stephen F. Austin State University Press
Publisher Stephen F. Austin State University Press
Weight(grams) 204g
Dimensions(mm) 182mm * 116mm * 15mm
This is an apt description of Welch's book, indeed. The senior poet of Nebraska and the Great Plains, Don Welch may sardonically regard himself as the "shriveled old man" who both explores the Plains' interiors and, by writing about them, becomes the protector of the earth's treasures.
The gnomes in this collection are beautiful little crystals of verse, reminiscent of the brevity of ancient Chinese poetry but purposefully armed with the occidental twists of language and experience that only someone immersed and baptized in the spirit of the local can wield. Welch's poems are vertical moments for our busy horizontal lives. They are like pendants of beaded water, their careful silences speaking loudly through our din.
About the Author
Don Welch is a Nebraska native and the author of many collections of poetry, including Dead Horse Table, Handwork, The Rarer Game, The Keeper of Miniature Deer, Inklings: Poems Old and New, and Gutter Flowers. His most recent collection, When Memory Gives Dust a Face, was published by Lewis-Clark Press in 2008, and a new collection, Distractions, is forthcoming from Backwaters Press. In 1980, Welch won the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, judged by William Stafford. He retired as Reynolds Poetry Professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, but he has recently been re-appointed to that post as Interim Reynolds Poetry Professor for 2012-2013.
Book Information
ISBN 9781622880355
Author Don Welch
Format Hardback
Page Count 80
Imprint Stephen F. Austin State University Press
Publisher Stephen F. Austin State University Press
Weight(grams) 204g
Dimensions(mm) 182mm * 116mm * 15mm
