Into the Fire

by Mary Clark

A young, aspiring writer comes in the late 1970s to St. Clement’s Church on West 46th Street in New York City looking for a job in the theater. Soon she is helping run the church’s poetry program. The New York Poetry Festival at St. Clement’s features many well-known poets of the time as well as up-and-coming and marginalized poets. Into The Fire: A Poet’s Journey takes place in the rough-and-tumble Hell’s Kitchen community on Manhattan’s West Side, a neighborhood that reflects the passion of the times. By 1980, both the arts scene and New York neighborhoods are on the verge of change. The author’s life in the arts weaves in and out of the neighborhood’s narratives. And she must make a choice between two possible lives.

Poems by some of the participants are recommended by the author. Cameo appearances in this memoir are made by Robert Altman, Amiri Baraka, Daniel Berrigan, Raymond Carver, Cher, Cornelius Eady, Allen Ginsberg, Spalding Gray, Abbie Hoffman, Maurice Kenny, William Packard, Robert Peters, Rochelle Ratner, Grace Shulman, and Kurt Vonnegut.

401 pages, Paperback

Published April 3, 2021

About the author

I am a writer of fiction, memoir, and poetry. My books include the novels Passages, The Horizon Seekers, and Covenant; memoirs Into The Fire: A Poet's Journey through Hell's Kitchen; Tally: An Intuitive Life; Community: Power Politics and Democracy in Hell's Kitchen; and a poetry novel, Children of Light.

Reviews

[Monica Brinkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Look Behind the Scenes of Hell's Kitchen
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2021
Verified Purchase

Hell's Kitchen is an area within NYC; not a specific arena or place. It is the home of the Actors Studio training school, and adjacent to Broadway theatres, Hell's Kitchen has long been a home to fledgling and working actors.

Mary Clark takes us behind the scenes of the many individuals, be they celebrities, poets, artists, or actors and how this group of dedicated people changed an area of New York from undesirable to one of the most sought after places to showcase talent. Not only does Clark provide actual photos but also bits of prose, poetry and works of the people involved as they create a bit of magic within a very unmagical arena.

This is truth and the reality of what it took to bring the name Hell's Kitchen to a positive vein, rather than negative.

Mary Clark shares her own experiences, yet within a story of strength, determination and dedication to the arts. Yes, there are some violent moments but the stories behind the famous and not so famous far outweigh any negativity.
Could not put this book down and will be one I read again and again. Just loved it.
Monica M Brinkman - review