Overview

Georgann Eubanks is known for her guidebooks that invite readers to explore the literary, cultural, culinary, and ecological heritage of the South. With her first volume of poetry, Rural Astronomy, Eubanks invites new explorations. These poems shift between childhood memories and her contemporary observations of the ongoing clash between Nature and human entitlement. With incisive vision and an occasional poke at the patriarchy, this memoir-in-poems hints at the magnitude of future degradations-by climate and human character-while inviting us to remember the guiding stars of a simpler past. For Eubanks, there are no brighter stars than her grandparents, Bomer and Stella, whose stories and lives frame these poems as well as Eubanks' startlingly unique perspective. Rural Astronomy celebrates an adventurous life through poetry that is both personal and universal, reflective and prescient.

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9781958094570

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Reviews

What a profound occasion: to have this inaugural volume of poems, Rural Astronomy, from Georgann Eubanks. Elegantly rendered with the eye and zeal of a botanist, Eubanks is an acolyte of the earth and its mysterious yield, equally expert in her excavation and celebration of the precarious terrain of the heart. -Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina Poet Laureate (2012-14) and author of Light at the Seam and The Act of Contrition Thanks to Eubanks for this fine poetic debut. The collection ranges from Appalachia to New York and Chicago and back, and is peopled by her people and the birds, animals, and flowers they love. Full of delightful surprises, this volume begs to be re-read many times. -Wayne Caldwell, author of Woodsmoke and River Road In her title poem, Georgann Eubanks holds her ""face right up to the glass/to drink in the pearly angle of light."" She makes sure that we, too, drink in that light. We treasure the spruce and huckleberry, the trillium, the half-moon that is like an upturned cup. Rural Astronomy is intellectually and emotionally stirring and so very beautifully written. -Judy Goldman, author of The Rest of Our Lives: A Memoir In her meticulously crafted new poetry collection Rural Astronomy, Georgann Eubanks writes, ""I am the keeper of my people and their planting... I am the last among the flourishing"" These poems read like a book of psalms in praise of rural America, past and present, warts and all, filled with endurance, resilience, buffalo nickels, sweet gum trees, okra, motel soaps, cucumber pickles, crabapples and ""towel[s] sweet from Cheer/ and rough from Wednesday's wind."" Eubanks is a master wielder of language. Once I began reading, I couldn't stop until I had savored every wondrous line. -Kari Gunter-Seymour, Ohio Poet Laureate and author of Dirt Songs Rural Astronomy is accessible, smooth, and earthy. With sharp observations of the land's harvest, each poem immerses readers in scenes where natural wonders and human existence intertwine, knitting narratives that unveil profound reflections. -Phillip Shabazz, poet, teaching artist, and author of Flames in the Fire

Author Information

Georgann Eubanks is known for her guidebooks that invite readers to explore the literary, cultural, culinary, and ecological heritage of the South. With her first volume of poetry, Rural Astronomy, Eubanks invites new explorations. These poems shift between childhood memories and her contemporary observations of the ongoing clash between Nature and human entitlement. With incisive vision and an occasional poke at the patriarchy, this memoir-in-poems hints at the magnitude of future degradations-by climate and human character-while inviting us to remember the guiding stars of a simpler past. For Eubanks, there are no brighter stars than her grandparents, Bomer and Stella, whose stories and lives frame these poems as well as Eubanks' startlingly unique perspective.Rural Astronomy celebrates an adventurous life through poetry that is both personal and universal, reflective and prescient.

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