Joyce Sutphen

It's the birthday of poet Joyce Sutphen (books by this author), born near St. Joseph, Minnesota (1949). She grew up on a small farm. She was one of nine children, and everyone worked hard: hoeing potatoes, driving the tractor, or milking. Her parents weren't literary — she said that her mother did not "like sentimentality and gush, keeping things plain and concise" — but they encouraged their kids' studies. She said: "My parents always felt that anyone doing homework or practicing a musical instrument was granted dispensation from other things. So as you can imagine, we were all good students and loved playing music!"

She said: "In college, I loved Shakespeare, Milton, the Romantic poets (all of them), and Blake and Yeats — but I began to feel overwhelmed. I couldn't imagine being able to write the kind of poem I was reading." Instead, she went to graduate school at the University of Minnesota to study Renaissance Drama. In 1990, at the age of 40, she was a teaching assistant with a group of students on a program in London. Away from her husband and three children, she had time for herself and her own room, and she was suddenly inspired to write poetry. She said, "It was so amazing. I got a little more rest, and I became a different person. I just expanded, and the poetry was there, like an untapped thing I turned on."

Some of the very first poems she sent out for publication were published in Poetry and American Poetry Review. About three years after she began writing poetry, she entered the Barnard Women's Poets contest. To assemble a manuscript, she printed out all the poems she had written, spread them out around her on the floor, and grouped them together as best she could. Then she sent off the manuscript and forgot about it. Months later, she got a call informing her that she had won the Barnard Women's Poets Prize, and her first book of poems, Straight Out of View (1995), would be published by Beacon Press.

She published several more books of poetry, and in 2011 she was named poet laureate for the state of Minnesota. She was the second poet laureate in the state's history, following Robert Bly. She said: "Compared to Robert Bly, I have done nothing — in fact, there are many other poets in this state (and I could name a dozen right off the top of my head) who are much more accomplished and eloquent than I am. I am a surprising choice, but here's what I think: no one could adequately follow Robert, so I make a great contrast, and whoever follows me won't have to worry."

Her other books include The Green House (2017), Naming the Stars (2004)Coming Back to the Body (2000), and First Words (2010).

She said: "When there are funding cuts for art and music and poetry and drama and dance, people just go ahead and do these things anyway — because it's absolutely necessary. People who love these things know how vital they are. I mean, humanly. And they won't stop, no matter what."

And: "I haven't finished with writing about my family and the experience of growing up on a small farm. That's material that keeps looking different to me and I continue to try to get it down, to create something that conveys what's being lost."

Read our Poet Interview with Joyce >>>

 


59 comments

  • Recovering your lost bitcoin or funds as the case might be, is not what you can do alone, you’d require the service of a trained specialist. A recovery specialist is a person or a group of people who are well equipped to work around the crypto network. They have vast knowledge about the whole network and have the right software and private keys to follow any transaction. I defrauded $256k worth of Bitcoin in Binary option, good thing I got every penny back through the help of Anthony davies he’s a genius Contact MAIL : anthonydaviestech@gmail(.)com. telegram: anthonydavies01‬ It is also important to be patient and really calm during the process.

    ama
  • Contacting a recovery agent would probably be more of a lame joke to me than an advice a couple of months back before I made a slip and lost $970,600 in the sad process unfortunately. All options came down to contacting a recovery agent and I did. I got details about Mr. JAMES MCKAY WIZARD RECOVERY from my long hours of surfing the web. I saw a post about him on reddit and I decided to give it a shot. Since I do not have any other option and nothing more to loose at this point. I immediately contacted him and that’s the best decision I’ve made. I would have lost all my retirement benefits to these fraudsters. He got the money back swiftly, it was barely a challenge to him. His work is up to par and I recommend him, I have introduced a couple of my other friends to him too. you can contact him on jamesmckaywizard at gmail dot com or WhatsApp +3165.7.4.4.6.2.4.8. you can do well to thank me later

    Excel Carl
  • I have worked with Mr. James Mc Kay Wizard quite a number of times and they have never disappointed me. They helped me monitor my Husband phone when I was gathering evidence during the divorce. I got virtually every information he has been hiding over the months easily on my own phone: the spy app diverted all his WhatsApp, Facebook, text messages, sent and received through the phone: I also got his phone calls and deleted messages. he could not believe his eyes when he saw the evidence because he had no idea he was hacked. they do all types of mobile hacks and computer hacks, you get unrestricted and unnoticeable access to your partner/spouse/anybody’s social account, email, E.T.C Getting the job done is as simple as sending an email to jamesmckay wizard at gmail dot com or WhatsApp +31.. 65.. 744.6.2.4.8.

    Ms Simone
  • I am posting this review here because I want to be of help to anyone out there, who in one or two ways have been scammed by online investment platforms. After going through a lot to recover my bitcoin although many people told me it’s impossible to recover your bitcoin If you’ve lost your bitcoin as a result of investing in binary options, trading platforms, your account was hacked or other bitcoin related scams or lost money to scammers online in whichever ways then You’re not alone. (I lost over $65,950 to skyrockettrade). Being a scam victim myself, I tried several means to recover my funds all to no avail, till I came across a cyber crime and recovery expert’s address online by name jamesmckaywizard at gmail dot com He literally saved my life, all i lost to these fake investors skyrockettrade was recouped in just a few days (a total of 3.7721 BTC) was recovered, Kindly send a message to the contact below if you’ve been in such situations and you are seeking recovery // jamesmckaywizard at gmail dot com or WhatsApp ++316 (5744) 6248.. and thank me later..

    Divine Greg
  • Hello everyone, i have a very important information about herpes virus, i was a victim of hsv1&2 until i met doctor Ahonsie, it still feels like a dream to me. it has been two years now, i have not experience any breakout of herpes. I new about him through a post made on social media, a lady shares her experience and then i decided to contact him and ever since i contacted i was encourage and with no doubt i was cured from herpes simplex in just two weeks. He also treat other illnesses like HPV, HIV, CANCER, THYRIOD, PENIS ENLARGEMENT, and more contact him via Email: drahonsie00@gmail.com / WhatsApp: +2348039482367. https://drahonsie002.wixsite.com/dr-ahonsie https://www.facebook.com/drstellaherbalhome?mibextid=ZbWKwLThanks

    Joseph R. Jones

Leave a comment