Sleeping Preacher

by Julia Kasdorf

Winner of the 1991 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize.

The poems in this book deal with life in a Pennsylvania Mennonite community and the tensions and conflicts that exist for the speaker as she tries to be true to two worlds, the other being New York City.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1992

Reviews

[Harley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a child, I was fascinated by the story my mother told about the sleeping preacher, John Kaufman. After graduating college, I set out to write a historical novel about his life. Unfortunately, I ran into some obstacles and never finished the novel. In the early 1900's he had visited the church my grandmother attended. During the late 1800's until the first decade of the 20th century, a number of sleeping preachers arose around the world. The preachers, both men and women, would enter into a trance and preach a coherent sermon. People would stick needles in their legs to see if they were faking.

I was immediately interested in Sleeping Preacher by Julia Kasdorf as soon as I read a review of the book and now I have finally read it. The poet, Julia Kasdorf, also attended the same college I did, a decade later, but I have never met her. While many of these poems address growing up Mennonite, some do not. Kasdorf writes of herself as well as family. The opening lines of A Family History about her mother read:

"At dusk the girl who would become my mom
must trudge through the snow, her legs
cold under skirts, a bandanna tight on her braids."

Each poem is a story packed with description of a world that many of us have never encountered. The opening lines of the poem, August, read:

"Dad's mother was coming home
from picking huckleberries on the mountain
when sunlight spooked the horse, and it tore
through a pasture fence, dragging the buggy
until it broke lose, hurling the children,
killing their mother, spilling
those silver pails of sweet, black fruit."

While the poem goes on to tell of other women who died in the month of August, these opening seven lines encapsulate a powerful story in their own write. The attention to detail builds the story image by image.

In the poem Friendschaft, Kasdorf captures Mennonite genealogy.

"As I grow up, the great aunts click their tongues.
They are looking for signs of their lives
in my limbs. It's the Hartzler blood that makes you
dark and thin. It's just like Aunt Toot to love
olives and pickles and fuss like a hen.
Your Yoder nose...."

I can't even begin the number of times I heard the same type of remarks growing up. Kasdorf was six when her family bought their first television and she captures that moment in a poem. I was seventeen when my family bought our first TV. I found in these poems much that I have heard and remember.

The first poem of Kasdorf that I read before buying the book was What I Learned from My Mother. The poem discusses what to do when someone dies. She closes the poem with these lines:

"To every house you must enter, you must offer
healing: a chocolate cake you baked yourself,
the blessing of your voice, your chaste touch."

The title poem, The Sleeping Preacher, tells the story of church reform through the eyes of her great-grandmother. The closing lines read:

"She did not think of us,
only to save us, leaving nothing
for us to touch or see
except this stubborn will to believe."

I highly recommend this book to poets and other readers, especially those interested in learning more about the Mennonite culture and way of life.

[Melissa]

This woman can WRITE!

[Luann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of this little volume seems to be about leaving -- leaving the country for the city, leaving a faith that confines, leaving relationships, and loved ones leaving in death. In as much, I believe there are poems in Sleeping Preacher that will touch most anyone, especially if the reader's early childhood and youth were intwined in rural Amish or Mennonite life.

[Arnie Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second volume by Kasdorf that I've found in a Mennonite thrift shop. I've read little poetry by Mennonites and I doubt most is as honest and revealing as Kasdorf. As a secular Jew I find I can relate to her work. I like her contrasts between rural Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, and I fully understand her dislike of hens. If you think you don't like poetry, give Julia Kasdorf a try.

[Alane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of my favorite subjects wrapped into one volume. Some pieces haven't aged well but much of it still offers a window into generations of the Mennonite and Amish culture of America. The struggles and ways in which cultures blended are high points.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sleeping Preacher is a well written book of poems, but their subject matter--the lives of Mennonites and Amish, as seen by one who left--only goes so far: these are poems of family, in the end, and other than the characters, their familiar examples of that tradition.

[John Yarbrough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my. I was amazed at how much I related to the poems. I have experienced it. I'm sad that she hasn't produced more. Wonderful.

[John Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid poems about Mennonite life and moving away therefrom.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was amazing. I am quickly becoming obsessed with this poet, and I'm not at all ashamed to admit it. The great thing about Julia Kasdorf is that she writes poems that are universal enough that any reader instantly relates to some part of the poem, and yet she infuses it with intimacy from her own childhood and experience. This anthology, her first, felt more intimate than anything of hers I've read before. The poems bounce back between her life living in New York City to her early years-and the lives of her family-in the Mennonite community. Some of these are incredibly raw, and others are very uplifting but all of the poems in this work come together to create an image of the poet herself as she is. It was fantastic.
Some of my favorites include:
- "Green Market, New York"
- "When Our Women Go Crazy"
- "St. Francis Preaches to the Birds"
- "Dying with Amish Uncles"
- "Freindschaft"
- "Uncle"
- "Catholics"
- "What Language is For"
- "What I Learned From My Mother"
- "Prospect Park, Holy Week"
Each one of them held me in a different way, and I literally love them. This is a poet to read if you want to get into poetry. I'm thinking I'm going to have to go buy my own copy since I'm sure my Creative Writing professor is keen to have this back.

PLEASE, READ THIS!!!!!!

[Angie Orlando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sleeping Preacher consists of mostly narrative poetry and tells the story of life in an Amish/Mennonite community. The author, who left her Amish roots behind, shows us generations of her family full of grief and trashy, where the most important thing she learned was how to mourn. For the first two/thirds of the book, I could not stop reading. Late into the night I swore this would be the last poem, only to read five more. But the final third lost my interest completely, I am sad to say. I also had trouble keeping track of all the people, generations of huge families. When Ellen appears in three poems after having several miscarriages and two suicide attempts, all I could think was, "who is Ellen." This is still a good read, but you might want to take notes.

[ben adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not quite get me well enough to go to 4 stars. If there was a 3.5 star rating, I would have done that. This book should be of particular interest to Mennonite people, especially if they grew up Mennonite or Amish. It tells tales of living simply and leaving the faith community of childhood without demonizing or glorifying the old world the author once lived in. The insights in it are very good, but the style was too documentarian for my liking (even though I see a lot of her style in my own). I would recommend this book if you like poetry and if you like thinking about going from a sheltered religious world to a postmodern urban world.

[marcus miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking poems which sparked memories of my own experience.
Having the only television in the extended family, considering what to wear when going to church with Beachy Amish relatives, (short sleeves are worldly and immodest even on a male, let alone one trying to grow sideburns.) Feeling part of, yet different, the transition from rural to urban, even the regular Sunday night menu. Maybe I like them because they reflect some of my own families experience. I imagine most folks from small rural towns who have ventured to larger places will find themes which resonate.

[Diann · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eclectic set of poems that wove interesting connections through time, space, family and community. One of my children married into a Mennonite family and we now have many Mennonite friends. This offered me greater insight into what makes a Mennonite community unique and beautiful.