Stretches, Knute Skinner's first full-length collection in six years, contains not only the depth but also the uncommon variety his readers have come to expect of him.
Tender and witty love poems coexist with brief narratives and satirical sketches. Lyrical responses to nature interact with spiritual responses to the material world. These poems, diverse in subject and tone, represent the accomplishment of a life's dedication to a poet's art and craft. Skinner's language is accessible but crackles with apt surprise. The collection stretches, and it invites the reader to stretch with it.
Knute Skinner lives in Killaspuglonane, County Clare, his home for the past thirty-eight years. His poetry has appeared widely in Ireland, Britain, Australia and North America. For some years he taught literature and creative writing part of each year at Western Washington University. He has worked as director of the Signpost Press and editor of The Bellingham Review, as well as serving on the editorial board of New Series-Departures. He is the author of 13 collections of poetry, 6 of them with Salmon Poetry, and he has poems in numerous anthologies, including Irish Poetry Now and Or Volge L'Anno-At the Year's Turning: An Anthology of Irish Poets Responding to Leopardi. He is married to Edna Faye Kiel, who is the subject of some of these poems. His most recent collection of poetry, Fifty Years: 1957-2007, was published by Salmon in 2007.
Tender and witty love poems coexist with brief narratives and satirical sketches. Lyrical responses to nature interact with spiritual responses to the material world. These poems, diverse in subject and tone, represent the accomplishment of a life's dedication to a poet's art and craft. Skinner's language is accessible but crackles with apt surprise. The collection stretches, and it invites the reader to stretch with it.
Knute Skinner lives in Killaspuglonane, County Clare, his home for the past thirty-eight years. His poetry has appeared widely in Ireland, Britain, Australia and North America. For some years he taught literature and creative writing part of each year at Western Washington University. He has worked as director of the Signpost Press and editor of The Bellingham Review, as well as serving on the editorial board of New Series-Departures. He is the author of 13 collections of poetry, 6 of them with Salmon Poetry, and he has poems in numerous anthologies, including Irish Poetry Now and Or Volge L'Anno-At the Year's Turning: An Anthology of Irish Poets Responding to Leopardi. He is married to Edna Faye Kiel, who is the subject of some of these poems. His most recent collection of poetry, Fifty Years: 1957-2007, was published by Salmon in 2007.