Wapsipinicon

In Wapsipinicon (wop-suh-PIN-uh-kun) James Longstaff takes us from the Kona Coast of Hawaii to St. Petersburg Russia by way of America's Upper Midwest Chicago the Great Lakes and Canada. On fishing boats sailboatsmotorcycles forgotten trains jazz riffs and trout streams these stories and poems explore the country between adolescence and last chances. Among this collection is work nominated for a Pushcart Prize and an Awards Poem recognition from Plainsongs. James Longstaff's is a double-barreled talent. In the short story or in the sterner precincts of poetry he delivers well-wrought closely observed meditations on life. Approach with confidence reader. You're in capable hands. -Robert Lacy author of The Natural Father. Longstaff's poems are deeply and convincingly inhabited and rich in imagery. A poet of elemental occasions he makes us feel the rush of a johnboat skimming a river or of celebrating a wedding anniversary by the way in which wood has been improved by turning into paper. Humorous or rueful Longstaff's always accessible poems bring us back as the best of poems do for future reading. -Charles Martin. In stories and poems Jim Longstaff knows how to help the reader slow down and savor language with a clipped inventive rhythm to everything he writes. So best to read him out loud - to hear his intentions. Longstaff makes you hear again the medley not out in the world but in you. Praise be for this debut collection. - J.P. White author of Every Boat Turns South