The South has a long tradition of great writers who remain in the South, transforming the local landscape into a universal one. Currently Poet Laureate of Georgia, David Bottoms is one of the South’s most revered poets. The fifteen critical essays in this collection set out to examine the images and themes revealed in his poetry and fiction. Topics include the role of rebirth and resurrection, the presence of faith in the poems, masculinity and gender, and race in the South.

William Walsh, the author of eight books, is the director of the Reinhardt University undergraduate creative writing program and the MFA program. He has been published in such journals as Five Points, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review and Literary Matters. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Edited by William Walsh
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 286
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4729-9
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8527-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi

Editor’s Note      1

Introduction: “At the Still Point”

W. A. SESSIONS      7

1. The Vigilant Words of David Bottoms

DAVE SMITH      11

2. The Evolution of the GOB Aesthetic

FRED CHAPPELL      27

3. Amazing Grace: The Aesthetics of a Spiritual Quest

ERNEST SUAREZ      45

4. Fishing from the Poetry Boat: A Conversation

ALICE FRIMAN and MARSHALL BRUCE GENTRY      57

5. “If It Touches Us, It Touches Us”: The White Southern Male Struggle with Race

JANE HILL      71

6. Warbling with TV in the Background

ROBERT W. HILL      87

7. A Real Mix: Rebirth and Gender in Easter Weekend

MARSHALL BRUCE GENTRY      94

8. Signs from My Fathers

DAVID BAKER      106

9. The Logic of the Original Dream

WILLIAM WALSH      120

10. The Rolling Circle: Memory and Maturity

EDWARD BYRNE      136

11. Searching for the Kingdom of Heaven: A Spiritual Journey

MICHAEL SOWDER      155

12. “Up Toward Light”: Resurrection, Transfiguration, Metamorphosis, and Evolution in Armored Hearts

DON RUSS      176

13. The Onion’s Dark Core

ERNEST SUAREZ      187

14. To Own My Father’s Name: Not Hiding the Masculine

JANE HILL      204

15. Grueling Miracle: Faith in Middle Age

LAURENCE LIEBERMAN      240

Contributors      269

Index      273

“the essays and interviews contained in this volume offer readers a wide range of perspectives on Bottom’s poetry as well as on Bottoms himself”—Reference & Research Book News.