In Elemental, Scott Owens has crafted poems of praise and witness that connect me more deeply to the world and to my own heart. The language is both elegant and precise, that is to say, elemental. “I’m here for the trees,” begins one poem, and then in another, he writes about eating wild strawberries, “little else could make me feel more alive.” These poems explore the natural world with wonder, curiosity, and astonishment. Like any good naturalist, Owens looks and sees deeply, asks questions, makes connections, and shares with the reader what he learns. Whether it is through the lens of a mature gardener elbow-deep in earth or a traveler venturing into new terrain, these poems bring the reader to a place where “everyone remembers/what it means to live.”
-Pat Riviere-Seel, author of Because I Did Not Drown
It’s all happening here. Just look: after rain the hills / fill up with mist, everything / else just memory. Just?! Perhaps the mist is forgetfulness, perhaps ignorance or willful turning away, nevertheless mist must part and memory stride out into the open, called forth by the elemental poetry of Scott Owens. Elemental is seeking, discovery, self-revelation, assurance; Scott shares with us his essentials, those things in life possible to trust and to love. Shape of tree, breath of breeze, turning season, end of days – from these lines may we each stride out to discover our own home on this earth.
-Bill Griffin, naturalist and poet at Verse & Image (griffinpoetry.com)
Scott Owens delves deep into the simple but precious things we take for granted and opens our eyes, to see what he sees, what he hears, and feels, to bring into consciousness those elemental parts of life. An emotionally intelligent person, he lives and breathes poetry, and we are the fortunate recipients. In this book, Scott’s diversity of poetry rings out. Places from Arizona to Hayesville, NC, from the death of his beloved dog to Haiku. Each page takes us on a journey. We are eager to see where we will go next.
-Glenda Beall, author of Now Might As Well Be Then
About the Author
Scott Owens is the author of 24 collections of poetry and a recipient of awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the Next Generation/Indie Lit Awards, the North Carolina Writers Network, the North Carolina Poetry Society, and the Poetry Society of South Carolina. His poems have been featured on The Writer’s Almanac eight times, and his articles about writing poetry have been used in Poet’s Market four times. He has been twice nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and for North Carolina Poet Laureate. Owens holds degrees from Ohio University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is Professor of Poetry at Lenoir-Rhyne University and a former editor of Wild Goose Poetry Review and Southern Poetry Review. He owns and operates Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse and Gallery and coordinates Poetry Hickory in Hickory, NC.
