In our time there has been no poet who revived human hearts and spirits more convincingly than William Stafford." —Naomi Shihab Nye Some time when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made. Ask me whether what I have done is my life. —from "Ask Me" In celebration of the poet's centennial, Ask Me collects one hundred of William Stafford's essential poems. As a conscientious objector during World War II, while assigned to Civilian Public Service camps Stafford began his daily writing practice, a lifelong early-morning ritual of witness. His poetry reveals the consequences of violence, the daily necessity of moral decisions, and the bounty of art. Selected and with a note by Kim Stafford, Ask Me presents the best from a profound and original American voice.
Born the year World War I began, acclaimed poet William Stafford (1914-1993) spent World War II in a camp for conscientious objectors. Throughout a century of conflict he remained convinced that wars simply don't work. In his writings, Stafford showed it is possible--and crucial--to think independently when fanatics act, and to speak for reconciliation when nations take sides. He believed it was a failure of imagination to only see two options: to fight or to run away. This book gathers the evidence of a lifetime's commitment to nonviolence, including an account of Stafford's near-hanging at the hands of American patriots. In excerpts from his daily journal from 1951-1991, Stafford uses questions, alternative views of history, lyric invitations, and direct assessments of our political habits to suggest another way than war. Many of these statements are published here for the first time, together with a generous selection of Stafford's pacifist poems and interviews from elusive sources. Stafford provides an alternative approach to a nation's military habit, our current administration's aggressive instincts, and our legacy of armed ventures in Europe, the Pacific, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and beyond.
The Osage Orange Tree, a never-before-published story by beloved poet William Stafford, is about young love complicated by misunderstanding and the insecurity of adolescence, set against the backdrop of poverty brought on by the Great Depression. The narrator recalls a girl he once knew. He and Evangeline, both shy, never find the courage to speak to each other in high school. Every evening, however, Evangeline meets him at the Osage orange tree on the edge of her property. He delivers a newspaper to her, and they talk—and as the year progresses a secret friendship blossoms. This magical coming-of-age tale is brought to life through linocut illustrations by Oregon artist Dennis Cunningham, with an afterword by poet Naomi Shihab Nye, a personal friend of Stafford’s. In the tradition of the work of great fiction writers like Steinbeck, O’Connor, and Welty, The Osage Orange Tree stands the test of time, not just as an ode to a place and a generation but as a testament to the resilience of a nation and the strength of the human heart.
Poetry. WINTERWARD is the title of the 1954 creative dissertation that William Stafford wrote for his Ph.D. in English at the University of Iowa. This collection contains poems that would eventually be published in West of Your City, Traveling through the Dark, and The Rescued Year. In addition to shining a light on Stafford's early poetic gifts, WINTERWARD is a blueprint for the themes, tones, and concerns that were central to Stafford's life as writer, thinker, and citizen. This collection is as much an aesthetic bookmark of a moment as it is a looking glass into a narrative that includes Stafford as a National Book Award Winner, Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, and ultimately as one of the major poets of his generation. "William Stafford is a master. He belongs to that category of artists the Japanese have named 'national treasures.' He offers the work of art as well as sharp ideas about the craft. One of his most amazing gifts to poetry is his theme of the golden thread. He believes that whenever you set a detail down in language, it becomes the end of the thread... and every detail... will lead you to amazing riches."—Robert Bly
Poems to Ponder By: William Stafford Sessoms In this insightful collection of poetry, William Stafford Sessoms uses prose to convey messages of hope to anyone struggling with hate, envy, and unhappiness. His uplifting words provides those struggling with a sense of relief and a new, bright outlook on life.
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