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Working the Dirt NewSouth Books Farming and gardening in the rich Southern soil is the thematic inspiration for this volume of verse featuring close to 100 poets—Wendell Berry, Henry Taylor, Andrew Glaze, Robert Morgan, Nikki Giovanni, John Crowe Ransom, James Applewhite, C.D. Wright, Rodney Jones, Robert Penn Warren, Naomi Shihab Nye, and many more.
Reviews “From the seat of a tractor to the seat of a car driven in search of a peach stand, the poems gathered here deal with dirt, toil, memory, history, and bliss. Horne carefully selected and sequenced the more than 100 poems in this collection within a thematic structure, and is clearly blown away by the individuality of the voices and poetic talents. Determined to present the South from many viewpoints, all of which reveal its roughness, beauty, and agrarian tradition, she has included time-honored poets such as Randall Jarrell and Wendell Barry, contemporary poets such as Naomi Shihab Nye and Ellen Bryant Voigt, and such lesser-known poets as Sallie Nixon and Coppie Green. The book's strongest section is titled ‘Strong Women,’ wherein such poems as Richard Jackson's ‘Morning Glory’ absolutely shine with emotion, perception, and transformation. Working the Dirt is an apt title for an anthology that celebrates the soil and richly sings the songs of numerous southern poets.” “I dare anyone who loves the soil and great poetry to pick up this book for a quick browse—an impossible feat. With the finest line-up of Southern poets imaginable, from the esteemed and beloved Wendell Berry and Henry Taylor (two of my favorites) to other lesser known but gifted talents, this book bursts with the sweet promise and mystery of life a gardener feels each spring.” “Here, farming lends poetry its honor. In the process, many of the best poets America can claim leave behind the tug of nihilism and, by refreshing spirit with earth, reassert their prophetic role as bards.” “A collection that brings back autumn orchards, fried green tomatoes, nodding sunflowers, wild strawberries, and that sharp sense of personal history, redolent of smokehouse and battlefield, for which the South is noted.” “Working the Dirt is a harvest of Southern poets’ best words about the land. These poems still have dirt under their fingernails, still hold cool, spring moisture on their leaves.”
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