The Gatehouse Heaven: Poems

By James Kimbrell

Book Overview

"Kimbrell sings a serious song. . . . The poems are deft and sure, there is a sense of vision in them, and I have the feeling that this is the start of something significant."-from the Foreword by Charles Wright

In his debut collection (selected by Charles Wright as the 1997 winner of the Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry), Kimbrell revisits the mysterious landscapes of childhood and returns with poems that fathom meaning yet retain a sense of awe. The book's title section, a poignant ten-part poem, portrays a son's lifelong struggle to connect with a father made absent by mental and physical illness: "It's quite/The wonder, what madness can do for a man, //Much more than me far below the harsh light of heaven/Down here, in the make-shift center of this world." The Gatehouse Heaven serves as testament and guide to the kind of love that lies beyond anger.

James Kimbrell has received a Ford Foundation Fellowship, a Henry Hoynes Fellowship, and the Ruth Lilly Fellowship. He was twice winner of the Academy of American Poet's Prize and also received the "Discovery"/The Nation Award and Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize. His poems and co-translations (with Jung Yul Yu) have appeared in magazines such as Poetry, The Antioch Review, The Quarterly, and Field. He is currently completing his Ph.D. in creative writing at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1889330140
• ISBN13: 9781889330143
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Sarabande Books
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The Great Kimbrell

This is a great book, although it is rather short. I read it a few times. I went to one of his readings at a local university and he is a great guy, his poetry is well written, it is not five star work yet.

Brilliant

James Kimbrell's poetry exhales with the perfect balance of expertise and ease. There's nothing contrived or stuffy about his poems. The voice is significantly soothing, pure and unequivocal. And each new poem has a mysterious and revitalizing significance.

Kimbrell's poetry is so REAL.

This work is pure genius. The images are vivid and reminiscent of my own childhood in the south. Every poem takes you somewhere whether it's the southern U.S. or Asia. You are there. You can see it and smell it and taste it. Every time I re-read the poems, I discover something new there I had not seen before.

Poetry that begs to be read outloud.

An unbelieveable first volume, nominated for a Pulitzer, this very talented poet has delivered images of rural Mississippi that transcend time and geography. In the title poem, the poet takes the reader with him through the gates of the asylum and into the dark world of his father's unrelenting schizophrenia. This is a poem which begs to be read aloud.Mr. Kimbrell will be a force to be reckoned with in the world of academia and poetry in the years to come. His writing is very accessible, fluid and pure. The foreword by his former teacher (himself a Pulitzer recipient) has been criticized as being "perfunctory"...only so, in my opinion, until the poetry has been read aloud. Only then will the reader understand the genius of this young poet and the excitement with which Charles Wright witnesses the beginning of a great career.