Harvest: Contemporary Mormon Poems

by Eugene England (Editor)

 Generously sampling the best Mormon poetry of the twentieth century, Harvest can be considered a definitive anthology. The younger poets in this collection, observes Dennis Clark, are moving in “new directions,” writing verse that “takes as its medium not text but the sounds of language.” They attempt—and succeed—in sharing with readers “some of the beauty and joy language first gave them, some of the playfulness, some of the fun, some of the truth.” The senior poets, explains Eugene England, favor traditional verse reflecting deep concern about “ideas and values, even some extremely specific ones they claim to know through inspiration.” Generally more concerned about structure than innovation, these poets nonetheless exhibit pleasure in experimentation and irony, and their verse is reminiscent of that of John Keats—or T. S. Elliott—powerful, beautiful, and surprisingly profound. Among  Harvest ‘s more than sixty contributors are Elouise Bell, Mary Blanchard, Mary Lythgoe Bradford, R. A. Christmas, Colin B. Douglas, Eugene England, Kathy Evans, Steven William Graves, Laura Hamblin, Lewis Horne, Susan Howe, Donnell Hunter, Bruce W. Jorgensen, Karl Keller, Lance Larsen, Clinton F. Larson, Timothy Liu, Karen Marguerite Moloney, Margaret Rampton Munk, Dixie Lee Partridge, Carol Lynn Pearson, Robert A. Rees, Karl C. Sandberg, Loretta Randall Sharp, Linda Sillitoe, May Swenson, Emma Lou Thayne, Philip White, Ronald Wilcox, and David L. Wright.

Genres: Poetry, Lds

326 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1989

About the author

A remarkable teacher, writer, and human being, Eugene England (1933-2001) profoundly influenced thousands of students, readers, and colleagues. A tireless advocate of what he called “great books and true religion,” he co-founded Dialogue, the first independent Mormon scholarly journal, and the Association for Mormon Letters. His thought-provoking personal essays explored the issues of belief, peace, poverty, race, gender, academic freedom and community. An eternal optimist, he encouraged dialogue between conservatives and liberals, skeptics and believers, traditionalists and postmodernists during the decades-long culture wars. England’s life and work reveal a faithful scholar and loyal critic who followed the admonition of Apostle Paul: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had a nickel for every time there was a poem about a porcupine being hit by a car in this book, I’d have two nickels.

Great work from R.A. Christmas, Marilyn McMeen Brown, Carolyn Pearson, Colin B. Douglas, Anita Tanner, Mary Blanchard, John W. Schouten, Lance Larsen, Timothy Liu, May Swenson, and, of course, Gene England.

[Dayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found a lot of poets to connect with in this volume. I'm anxious to read more from Emma Lou Thayne, Penny Allen, Dixie Lee Partridge, Margaret Rampton-Munk, John Sterling Harris, Susan Howe, Timothy Liu, and Lance Larsen. I was surprised not to see Marilyn Bushman-Carlton in here, but perhaps this book was put together before her time.

I think I dog-eared more pages than I didn't.

[Laura Craner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I blogged sufficiently about this book over at AMV. Here's the link (at least my attempt at a link):



If you are LDS and a writer and you don't own you're nuts.