Available April 5, 2022!
Cover art by Phyllis Shafer
David Lee is a major figure in American letters: the author of fifteen books of poetry, a celebrated teacher, a legendary reader in classrooms, bookstores, and taverns; and the first poet laureate of Utah. His work is full of the most various qualities: soul-crushing tragedy, lyrical celebration, high comedy, storytelling ebullience. Rusty Barbed Wire: Selected Poems, now with us at last, brings to the community of readers raw power and radical beauty.
“Let us rejoice at this rich harvest—hog wallow and hallelujah—from a learned man of letters who’s brought it all home as desert psalmist and teller of outrageous tales. We’re spared the pieties in favor of the plain truth—with blessed profanity, all pretense scorned, precious dignity restored herein the gospel according to David Lee.“—Eleanor Wilner
“David Lee’s poems have something in common with Whitman: they remind us that the world is a beautiful place, full of hope, delight, and awe, and that all who dwell here, no matter how small, are connected.” —Lori Baker Martin