Don't Explain (Volume 1997)

by Betsy Sholl

This collection of poems by Betsy Sholl offers revelations by weaving together seemingly unrelated events.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1997

About the author

Betsy Sholl has published seven collections of poetry, most recently Rough Cradle (Alice James Books, 2009). Don't Explain won the 1997 Felix Pollak Prize from the University of Wisconsin, and her book The Red Line won the 1991 AWP Prize for Poetry. Her chapbooks include Pick A Card, winner of the Maine Chapbook Competition in 1991, and Betsy Sholl: Greatest Hits, 1974-2004, Pudding House Publications. She was a founding member of Alice James Books and published three collections with them: Changing Faces, Appalachian Winter and Rooms Overhead. Among her awards are a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts, and two Maine Writer's Fellowships. Her work has been included in several anthologies, including Letters to America, Contemporary American Poetry on Race, and a range of magazines, including Field, Triquarterly, Brilliant Corners, The Kenyon Review, The Massachusetts Review, Beloit Poetry Journal. She has been a visiting poet at the University of Pittsburgh and Bucknell University. She lives in Portland, Maine, and teaches at the University of Southern Maine and in the MFA Program of Vermont College.

As of March 1, 2006, Betsy Sholl was chosen to be the Poet Laureate of Maine, a five-year position named by the governor.

Reviews

[Lindsey]

I came across her in a Beloit Poetry Journal -- her books won't disappoint.

[Melissa]

I love the title because I love Billie Holiday.

Some of the poems in this book make me say, "Good gracious this woman can write!"

[Charmi]

Why has it taken me so long to discover Betsy Sholl?