Two books of poetry by Janet Ruth Heller, which contain themes of love, nature, travel, family, the life of an artist, music, and perspectives on dramatic life changes. Folk Concert: Changing Times & Exodus >> www.janetruthheller.com
Folk Concert: Changing Times
Janet Ruth Heller’s poetry book, Folk Concert: Changing Times, was published by Anaphora Literary Press (2012). Folk Concert contains Heller’s best poems written from the 1970s to 2011. Folk Concert concerns the journey of becoming a woman during difficult times. Themes include feminism, love relationships, college teaching, nature, psychotherapy, travel, the anti-Vietnam War movement, family, the life of an artist/entertainer/writer, and music.
Here are comments about Folk Concert by author Jim Daniels, who teaches creative writing at Carnegie Mellon University, and Marge Piercy, who is also an acclaimed poet and novelist, and reviewer Kristin Hutchins.
“Folk Concert: Changing Times, by Janet Ruth Heller, captures small everyday moments with matter-of-fact grace and humor. The powerful understatement of these rich, precise poems swells and reverberates. They sing with political commitment, emotional commitment, and a lifetime of paying attention.”
Jim Daniels, author of Trigger Man, Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry, From Milltown to Malltown, Mr. Pleasant, In Line for the Exterminator, Places/Everyone, Punching Out, M-80, Blessing the House, Night with Drive-by Shooting Stars, Show and Tell: New and Selected Poems
“Janet Ruth Heller’s poems in Folk Concert: Changing Times work hard for clarity. They feel like clear water, but they have the cumulative power of a summer storm. Her family and nature poems are particularly moving.”
Marge Piercy, author of Gone to Soldiers, Braided Lives, The Longings of Women, Woman on the Edge of Time, Sleeping with Cats, The Hunger Moon: New & Selected Poems, 1980-2010, Circles on the Water: New and Selected Poems 1960-1980, Breaking Camp, Hard Loving, 4-Telling, To Be of Use, Living in the Open, The Twelve Spoked Wheel Flashing, and The Moon is Always Female
“This . . . folk poetry contains a verse for everyone, perhaps especially for those interested in Feminism, the anti-Vietnam War movement, political consciousness through social activism, as well as for those interested in nature poems.”
Kristin Hutchins, review of Folk Concert in Women’s Studies
Janet Ruth Heller has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Chicago. She has taught literature and writing at Western Michigan University, Albion College, the University of Chicago, Michigan State University, Grand Valley State University, and Northern Illinois University. Heller is a past president of the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature and is currently the president of the Michigan College English Association. She is also the author of the poetry books Exodus (WordTech Editions, 2014) and Traffic Stop (Finishing Line Press, 2011), the scholarly book Coleridge, Lamb, Hazlitt, and the Reader of Drama (University of Missouri Press, 1990), and the award-winning book for children about bullying, How the Moon Regained Her Shape (Arbordale, 2006). Heller’s website is http://www.janetruthheller.com/
Amazon offers Folk Concert for $15 per paperback copy and $30 hardcover plus postage. The ISBN-10 is 1-937536-26-2, and the ISBN-13 is 978-1-937536-26-8. You can order Folk Concert at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/Folk-Concert-Janet-Ruth-Heller/dp/1937536262/ Distributors include Ingram, IndieBound, and Campus Books.
EXODUS, Poems by Janet Ruth Heller
The poems in Exodus by Janet Ruth Heller are modern re-interpretations and psychological explorations of the people and events in the Bible. A central metaphor is the exodus from Egypt, which represents the journeys that people make: trying new experiences, leaving a bad relationship, finding a new job, taking risks. Many of the poems are dramatic monologues from the perspective of a character in the Scriptures. WordTech Editions published Exodus in January, 2014.
Janet Ruth Heller has also published the poetry books Folk Concert: Changing Times (Anaphora Literary Press, 2012) and Traffic Stop (Finishing Line Press, 2011), the scholarly book Coleridge, Lamb, Hazlitt, and the Reader of Drama (University of Missouri Press, 1990), the chapter book The Passover Surprise (Fictive Press, 2015), and the award-winning children’s book about bullying, How the Moon Regained Her Shape (Arbordale, 2006). Janet is a founding mother of the Rape Crisis Center in Madison, Wisconsin, and of the literary journal Primavera. She has a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago. Janet is a past president of the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, and she currently serves as president of the Michigan College English Association. Her website is http://www.janetruthheller.com/
“In this ambitious collection of poems, Janet Ruth Heller takes on the voices of a wide range of Biblical figures, giving them a fresh, contemporary feel as they weigh in with their own versions of these well-known stories. There are humor, wit, and compassion in these retellings. These humanizing, sympathetic portraits should resonate for all readers, regardless of one’s faith or lack of faith. She makes bold new footprints on these familiar paths.” –Jim Daniels, author of Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry, All of the Above, and Trigger Man
“With her collection Exodus, Janet Heller earns her place in the vibrant tradition of the midrash that begins with writings from the second century and continues to live in the hip hop of contemporary rapper Matt Bar and in Robert Crumb’s Genesis. In her lively and inventive ‘retellings’ of events from the Bible, Heller gives us an Exodus’ not simply the journey from Egypt but the very notion of change itself, that is beautifully mortal, compellingly present.” –Nancy Eimers, author of Oz, A Grammar to Waking, No Moon, and Destroying Angel
“The poems are often witty and skillful with their use of Biblical quotations and allusions, but they are at their best when they combine Biblical stories and modern imagery. . . . I found this book approachable and engaging. . . . . It would interest anyone wanting to explore Biblical texts from the perspectives of neglected characters and also those interested in how Biblical stories can . . . be relevant to today. .. . . I would seriously consider offering some [poems] to teenagers or to adult Bible study groups. . . . The clear and accessible writing style would make one of these short poems an ideal companion piece to a Biblical passage for personal or group reflection.” –Rhiannon Grant review in Women in Judaism (2014)
Keith Everett Jones designed Exodus and the cover art. The ISBN is 978-1625490612, the book is 88 pages, and the list price is $18. You can order Exodus from Amazon or from Barnes & Noble.
