Nancy Richardson’s poems concern coming of age in the rustbelt of Ohio during a period of decay of the physical and political structures that made the region once solid and predictable. The poems chart the shifting of the foundations upon which a life is built and the unpredictability of events that have profound personal and political consequences. Her poems in this book venture from the Ohio foundation to record a life of teaching and working for justice in many jobs and forums.
Nancy’s poems have appeared in journals and anthologies, and her first chapbook, Unwelcomed Guest was published in 2013. Her second chapbook, The Fire’s Edge, focuses on the events that occurred in the rustbelt of Ohio from the late 1970s onward. Her poetry book, An Everyday Thing, expands the narrative of that time and place and focuses on the effects of the period’s dislocation years afterward. That book received a Kirkus Star and was named one of the Best 100 Indie Books of 2018 in all genres.
The poems in Going Home have been selected from these previous volumes and combined with new poems in a memoir that brushes against the poet’s life working for justice in education and government.
Nancy lives and works in Vermont. She has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, an M.P.A. in Public Administration from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Education from Kent State University.
Paperback: 92 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (October 25, 2020)