Publisher's Synopsis
"Secret Music: Voices from Redwing, 1888 is a contemporary poet's take on small town life in the late 19th century, a new Spoon River Anthology. Machan has her myriad characters speak truths they dare not share aloud. A fascinating take on the time and a place."
-Marge Piercy, author of Made in Detroit and 18 other collections
"I've admired the Redwing monologues for many years and even have several memorized. My students bond with them intensely, drawn into the lives of these characters. Having directed two adaptations, I know that they are effective on the private page and the public stage."
-John S. Gentile, Ph.D., Professor of Performance Studies, Kennesaw State University
"Unlike the ghosts of Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River or the shadows of Edward Arlington Robinson's Tilbury Town, the hot-blooded folk of Redwing smolder with sexual desire, religious ardor, and utopian zeal. Their secret music will sear your ears."
-Anthony Di Renzo, author of Trinàcria: A Tale of Bourbon Sicily
"At the core of the Redwing poems is love, and all the complications that result. Light and dark, entangled as they often are, move in balance in this superb collection."
-George Drew, author of Pastoral Habits and Down & Dirty
Katharyn Howd Machan, author of 35 previous collections of poetry, has lived in Ithaca, New York, since 1975 and, now as a full professor, has taught Writing at Ithaca College since 1977. After many years of coordinating the Ithaca Community Poets and directing the Feminist Women's Writing Workshops, Inc., she was selected to be Tompkins County's first poet laureate. Her poems (many of which have been awarded prizes) have appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies, and textbooks, and she has edited three thematic anthologies.
