FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 14, 2004 #148
Contact: Michelle Hopkins
(816) 235-1592*
hopkinsml@umkc.edu
 

BkMk Press to Publish Fence Line, Winner of Ciardi Prize, in December

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- BkMk Press at the University of Missouri-Kansas City will publish Fence Line, Curtis Bauer’s first collection of poetry, on Dec. 1. Winner of the 2003 John Ciardi Prize for poetry, Fence Line brings together the rural and the urban, the familiar and the foreign, the artist and the farmer.

“These poems vivify the landscapes that remain with the one who leaves—and returns, changed,” writes poet and Pennsylvania State University Professor Robin Becker. Indeed, in the title poem, “A Fence Line Running Through It,” Bauer relates the experience of coming home; “my hands have lost their calloused ridges;/my sweat, strain and ache are buried, and I/wander up and down this gravel road/dissecting Hilton Township.”

Christopher Buckley, who selected Fence Line for the Ciardi Prize, writes, “In a direct language, in imagery which always arises from an experiential base, in the details of a landscape, in the spare light of the past, Bauer demonstrates the considerable skill and humility necessary to uncover what epiphanies are available in a life and make some sense of the rush of the experience.” Buckley teaches at the University of California-Riverside and is the author of ten poetry collections.

Bauer’s varied experiences—from building fences on an Iowa farm to teaching English in Spain—bring a quiet honesty and integrity to the poems that encapsulate these memories. He takes us to the place where “we share café con leche/while boys play/a football match the future/of the world depends on.”

After graduating from Central College in 1992 as a “disgruntled political science major,” Bauer spent the next four years teaching English in Mexico and Spain, respectively. He currently teaches English and co-directs the Writing Studio at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and lives in Iowa City. His writing has earned such recognition as the Inkwell Poetry Prize and selection as a finalist for The Iowa Review’s Iowa Award for Poetry, The North American Review’s James Hearst Poetry Prize, the New Letter’s Literary Award, and the GSU writing award.

“I’d like someone to read these poems and stay awake for a while thinking about the people who are/were significant in their lives,” said Bauer. “Riff on that beautiful woman in the car driving away, or that couple asleep tangled in their limbs next door and learn from these experiences. Learn to see the details and embrace them and think of how these minutiae can add to one’s life. I don’t think that’s asking too much.”

Fence Line is available from SPD (Small Press Distribution) in Berkeley, California (www.spdbooks.org), and from other wholesale and retail outlets. Fence Line is $13.95 in trade paperback, ISBN 1-886157-48-0, 83 pp.

BkMk Press was founded in 1971 and became a part of UMKC in 1983. The press publishes fine literature by contemporary authors. Financial assistance for BkMk Press is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, by UMKC, and by private donations. Media review copies of The Dissolving Island may be requested by calling 816-235-2558.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City, established in 1963, has the following strategic goals: In 2006: We are a national leader in scholarship and creative activity; We attract, nurture, and develop responsible community leaders; We are an essential community partner and resource; We are a workplace of choice; and We have the resources to fuel our vision.

* Individuals with speech or hearing impairments may call Relay Missouri at (800) 735-2966 (TT) or (800) 735-2466 (voice).

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