Photo credit: David Roderick
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Poet Rachel Richardson was born and raised in Berkeley, California, yet her family has its roots in the Southern states of the USA, and specifically Louisiana. She grew up going on vacation to the South and her Southern father has been a great influence and source of inspiration for Rachel´s creative endeavors. Given her background, it should come as no surprise that Rachel has written, Copperhead (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2011), an outstanding collection of poems that passionately and vividly evoke the South, our nostalgia for it and the fact that the quaint, sugar-coated version of the South we may long for is sometimes illusory. Moreover, Rachel presents the South from the point of view of someone who has spent a lot of time there, but is nonetheless regarded as an outsider and this brings a certain clarity and fearlessness to her writing.
Rachel earned a BA at Dartmouth College, an MFA at the University of Michigan, and an MA in folklore at the University of North Carolina. She currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina and teaches at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. As well as working in education institutions, Rachel has also taught creative writing in prisons.
She has received a number of awards including a Wallace Stegner Fellowship, a Hopwood Award, and scholarships to the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences.
Book Giveaway
Congratulations to Megan, the winner of our book giveaway! Thanks to all who listened to OWC and left a comment!
To learn more about Rachel Richardson and her work, visit her website.
You can purchase Copperhead on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble , or from an independent book seller near you.
Claire Hart
Claire Hart has two great loves: art and communication. She enjoys communicating about art. Breaking down and exploring barriers to communication is how she earns her living. She lives her life partly in German and partly in English, but always in colour.
Hoping to win another copy of this book because the one I already have is worn from repeated readings. A wonder of a book.
Love these poems! I love the use of “predatory beauty” to describe Louisiana.
Huge congratulations to Rachel — we were in the same undergraduate writing program, and her work was always luminescent. (Long live Quorum!)
I love this writer’s style! Reading her book feels like taking a journey through the meandering side roads and varied landscapes of the American South.
I was delighted to see you featured Rachel Richardson this month! Good choice! I discovered her work before she was published and have been a huge fan for many years!
I love Rachel’s work. Delighted to hear her read (again).
Great interview!