Permanent Camp:: Poems, Narratives and Renderings from the Smokies

by George Ellison, Elizabeth Ellison (Illustrator)

Walking west of Bryson City, North Carolina, on July 1, 1976, George and Elizabeth Ellison happened upon a magical cove tucked into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It held a small house of many windows, a shining creek, a tree-lined meadow and a pathway into a dark forest. They moved in for the summer and never left, defying Kephart's notion that all camps are temporary. For nearly forty years, this secluded spot has been the touchstone of their work as author and artist. These interrelated poems, narratives, renderings, notes and paintings form an artistic whole in praise of the outer and inner landscapes within which we all reside.

Genres: Poetry, Nature

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2012

Reviews

[Michael Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up for a change of pace, and also because I too have a little permanent (or semi-permanent) camp near Bryson City. I certainly understand why a man might find his true home and a little extra part of himself roaming these hills and hollars. Sometimes I really identify with Ellison's writing; at other times I have no idea what he means. But that's okay. In poetry, I can take whatever meaning I need from his words. The accompanying artwork, by his wife, Elizabeth Ellison, shows a great love of place. I'm happy they found their permanent camp so close to my own ancestral homelands.

[Annette]

So fabulous.

William Barnes: "the holiness of the commonplace"

p. 117:

"When looking back all we will ever find
are random snippets both bright and dull
that lay scattered here and there
in our recollections until we sort them
and--as if stitching patchwork--render
cohesive pasts from things happened
things imagined and things dreamed.
We might then ask our hearts
to find a place called home."

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Permanent Camp: Poems, Narratives and Renderings from the Smokies by George Ellison (Natural History Press 2012) (811). This work consists of poems by a venerated western North Carolina writer with paintings and illustrations by his wife. I like her watercolors more than his work. My rating: 6/10, finished 4/22/14.