On Native Ground: Memoirs and Impressions

By Jim Barnes

Book Overview

On Native Ground takes us from Jim Barnes's boyhood in rural southeastern Oklahoma during the Great Depression and World War II through his mature years as an internationally recognized poet. Of Choctaw and Welsh ancestry, Barnes is often identified as a Native American poet. He emphasizes his desire to be recognized for his art, not his blood. Yet he speaks eloquently here of his attachment to his "native ground," the Choctaw region in Oklahoma--for him "the land where memory dwells." This edition features a new postscript by the author.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806140925
• ISBN13: 9780806140926
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A superb work of impeccable literary and biographical scholarship

Jim Barnes was appointed the Oklahoma State Poet Laureate for 2009-2011 by Governor Brad henry in recognition and appreciation of his published accomplishments in the field of poetry. "On Native Ground: Memoirs And Impressions" by Jim Barnes (Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah) is an informed and informative biography of Jim Barnes beginning with his boyhood in rural southeaster Oklahoma during the Great Depression and World War II and concludes with a survey of his adult years and acclaim as an internationally recognized Native American poet. Of Welsh and Choctaw ancestry, Barnes is an eloquent word smith. For this University of Oklahoma Press edition, a new postscript has been penned by author and biographer Jim Barnes to bring the reader fully up to date on the life and times of a master American poet. A superb work of impeccable literary and biographical scholarship, "On Native Ground" is especially recommended for academic library American Biography and American Poet reference collections and supplemental reading lists.