Dakota Bones
Dakota Bones collects the poems of Hermosa, South Dakota, rancher-poet-essayist Linda Hasselstrom. The book reprints complete her two previous collections of poems (Caught by One Wing and Roadkill, now out of print), and adds 28 previously unpublished poems, a preface, a brief autobiographical sketch, and an alphabetical index of titles. In 1987 Hasselstrom won the American Writing Award from Fulcrum, Inc. for Going Over East (prose), and in 1991 the Elkhorn Prize for poetry published in Nebraska Review.
“Her images are stark, exposed, down to the bone. Death, isolation, and hard work are the major themes in the poems, but mingled with stern subject matter are reminders of what makes the effort worthwhile: sunsets and shimmering grass, rodeos and lemon pies, ‘a single lilac shoot beside a rain-pooled rock.’”—Emily Johnson, Plainswoman
“Hasslestrom is living proof
that literature can flourish without a steady supply of grants, fellowships,
five-figure advances, national awards, and comfortable sinecures. She
works every day on her ranch, but she also publishes at least one good
book a year.”
—John Murray, Bloomsbury Review
“There is a band of western writers today examining where their region has come from and where it’s headed. . . . Among the best of those who have lived part of that nation-defining history on ranches and reservations and in small towns across the West: Wallace Stenger, Ivan Doig, Patricia Nelson Limerick, James Welch, Linda Hasselstrom, and a few more.”—Brad Knickerbocker, Christian Science Monitor
166 pages
$9.95 paper
0-944024-23-8