Linda Nemec Foster Poetry Reading

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Saturday, Sep 9, 2023  1pm - 2:30pm

Location

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Join us as we welcome acclaimed Michigan Notable Book author, Linda Nemec Foster, as she reads selections from her latest publication, Bone Country, a collection of prose
poems reflecting on the world before COVID.

The book is a unique and haunting narrative that is inspired by other parts of the world—Istanbul, Rome, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Seville, Kyiv—and many other landscapes. The places are not the familiar neighborhoods of the United States and the narrator is not a native of these countries; they are “the other,” the American with a
distinct Midwestern sensibility who is trying to make sense of a world on the brink of an unforeseen catastrophe. The world as we used to know it.

Bone Country was published by Cornerstone Press (University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point) and nominated for the National Book Award, Poetry Center Book Award, Griffin Poetry Prize, and the Eric Hoffer Book Award.

It has garnered praise from Stuart Dybek who describes Foster’s work as “a visionary travelogue” and from Clare MacQueen who states, “Bone Country shimmers with consummate artistry.”

The Blue Divide is a poetry collection that delves into art, history, faith, and family relationships as they’ve been shaped by the past trauma of World War II and the redemption of a resilient future. Published by New Issues Press (Western Michigan University), The Blue Divide is described in a featured review in Publisher’s Weekly as “Rich with closely observed detail, narrative depth, and poignant historical reflections…this is a generous and beautiful collection.”

The Lake Michigan Mermaid was honored as a 2019 Michigan Notable Book. A modern Y/A twist on a mermaid’s fairy tale, it is a short story in poems narrated by two voices and fully illustrated with beautiful watercolors. Co-created with writer Anne-Marie Oomen and artist Meridith Ridl, the book was published by Wayne State University
Press and was a finalist for the da Vinci Award for Book Cover Art.

The Author:

Linda Nemec Foster has published twelve collections of poetry including Amber Necklace from Gdansk (finalist for the Ohio Book Award in Poetry), The Blue Divide, Talking Diamonds, and The Lake Michigan Mermaid (2019 Michigan Notable Book).

Her work appears in journals such as The Georgia Review, Nimrod, New American Writing, North American Review, Verse Daily, Paterson Literary Review, Witness, 2022 Best Small Fictions Anthology, and 2023 Best Spiritual Literature Anthology. She has received over 30
nominations for the Pushcart Prize and awards from the Arts Foundation of Michigan, National Writer’s Voice, The Poetry Center (New Jersey), Fish Anthology (Ireland), and the Academy of American Poets.

A collection of prose poetry, Bone Country, was published in
2023 after being honored as a finalist in several national competitions. Recently, she was invited to read an award-winning selection from Bone Country at the West Cork Literary Festival in Ireland. The inaugural Poet Laureate of Grand Rapids, Michigan (2003-2005),
Foster is the founder of the Contemporary Writers Series at Aquinas College.