Out to see America and satisfy his travel bug, W. T. Pfefferle resigned from his position as director of the writing program at Johns Hopkins University and hit the road to interview sixty-two poets about the significance of place in their work. The lively conversations that resulted may surprise with the potential meanings of a seemingly simple concept. This gathering of voices and ideas is illustrated with photo and word portraits from the road and represented with suitable poems. The poets are James Harms, David Citino, Martha Collins, Linda Gregerson, Richard Tillinghast, Orlando Ricardo Menes, Mark Strand, Karen Volkman, Lisa Samuels, Marvin Bell, Michael Dennis Browne, David Allan Evans, David Romtvedt, Sandra Alcosser, Robert Wrigley, Nance Van Winckel, Christopher Howell, Mark Halperin, Jana Harris, Sam Hamill, Barbara Drake, Floyd Skloot, Ralph Angel, Carol Muske-Dukes, David St. John, Sharon Bryan, Donald Revell, Claudia Keelan, Alberto Rios, Richard Shelton, Jane Miller, William Wenthe, Naomi Shihab Nye, Peter Cooley, Miller Williams, Beth Ann Fennelly, Natasha Trethewey, Denise Duhamel, Campbell McGrath, Terrance Hayes, Alan Shapiro, Nikki Giovanni, Charles Wright, Rita Dove, Henry Taylor, Dave Smith, Nicole Cooley, David Lehman, Lucie Brock-Broido, Michael S. Harper, C. D. Wright, Mark Wunderlich, James Cummins, Frederick Smock, Mark Jarman, Carl Phillips, Scott Cairns, Elizabeth Dodd, Jonathan Holden, Bin Ramke, Kenneth Brewer, and Paisley Rekdal. Pfefferle journeys deep into the American heartland to ...record the . . . songs of and photograph poets in their habitat. -- David Citino, poet laureate of Ohio State University These interviews . . . exhibit the profound richness and dazzling diversity of American poetry and its poets. -- David St. John Poets on Place Tales and Interviews from the Road By W.T. Pfefferle Utah State University Press Copyright © 2005 Utah State University Press All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-87421-597-7 Contents Foreword........................................................................xiiiIntroduction....................................................................xvWherein We Begin Life on the Road...............................................1James Harms - Morgantown, West Virginia.........................................2Landscape as the Latest Diet (Southern California)..............................4David Citino - Columbus, Ohio...................................................6Through a Glass, Darkly.........................................................9Martha Collins - Oberlin, Ohio..................................................10Linda Gregerson - Ann Arbor, Michigan...........................................13Richard Tillinghast - Ann Arbor, Michigan.......................................16Wake Me in South Galway.........................................................19Winnie Cooper...................................................................21Orlando Ricardo Menes - South Bend, Indiana.....................................22Mark Strand - Chicago, Illinois.................................................25A Morning.......................................................................29Karen Volkman - Chicago, Illinois...............................................30Lisa Samuels - Milwaukee, Wisconsin.............................................34Marvin Bell - Iowa City, Iowa...................................................37Port Townsend, Washington, Waterside............................................40Dust, Corn, and Popcorn People..................................................41Michael Dennis Browne - Minneapolis, Minnesota..................................44from At the Cabin...............................................................47David Allan Evans - Brookings, South Dakota.....................................50David Romtvedt - Buffalo, Wyoming...............................................53With Caitlin, Age 8, Building a Qhuinzee for a Winter Night.....................56The West........................................................................58Sandra Alcosser - Lolo, Montana.................................................60Mare Frigoris...................................................................64Robert Wrigley - Moscow, Idaho..................................................66Ordinary Magic..................................................................69Nance Van Winckel - Liberty Lake, Washington....................................70Awaiting the Return Ferry.......................................................73Christopher Howell - Spokane, Washington........................................74Wherein the Author Ruminates on RV Life.........................................76Mark Halperin - Ellensburg, Washington..........................................77Accident........................................................................80Jana Harris - Sultan, Washington............