Whatever Was Ripe (Bright Hill Press At-Hand Chapbook Series)

Literature & Fiction

Jolliff, William

History & Criticism

Bright Hill Press

Whether recalling long days on a tractor, late nights at prayer meeting, or the joyful heartbreak of raising a family, the poems in Twisted Shapes of Light take truth where they find it. William Jolliff wraps both arms around the phenomenon old Quakers called ''that of God in everyone,'' welcoming into his work a unique cast of characters seldom portrayed in contemporary poetry. The result is an honest struggle with faith and failure--and even an occasional revelation.

Twisted Shapes of Light (Poiema Poetry)

Cascade Books

Wipf and Stock

Heeding the Call: A Study of Denise Giardina's Novels

In Heeding the Call, William Jolliff offers the first book-length discussion of West Virginia writer and activist Denise Giardina, perhaps best known for her novel Storming Heaven, which helped spark renewed interest in the turn-of-the-century Mine Wars. Jolliff proposes that Giardina's fiction be considered under three thematic complexes: regional, political, and theological. Though addressing all three, Heeding the Call foregrounds the theological because it is the least accessible to most readers and critics. &nbsp; In chapters devoted to each of Giardina's novels, Jolliff attends to her uses of history, her formal techniques, and the central themes that make each work significant. What becomes clear is that while the author's religious beliefs inform her fiction, she never offers easy answers. Her narratives consistently push her characters--and her readers--into more challenging and meaningful questions. Jolliff concludes by arguing that although Giardina's initial fame has been tied to her significance as an Appalachian novelist, future studies must look beyond the regional to the deeply human questions her novels so persistently engage.

West Virginia University Press

In Heeding the Call, William Jolliff offers the first book-length discussion of West Virginia writer and activist Denise Giardina, perhaps best known for her novel Storming Heaven, which helped spark renewed interest in the turn-of-the-century Mine Wars. Jolliff proposes that Giardina’s fiction be considered under three thematic complexes: regional, political, and theological. Though addressing all three, Heeding the Call foregrounds the theological because it is the least accessible to most readers and critics.\nIn chapters devoted to each of Giardina’s novels, Jolliff attends to her uses of history, her formal techniques, and the central themes that make each work significant. What becomes clear is that while the author’s religious beliefs inform her fiction, she never offers easy answers. Her narratives consistently push her characters—and her readers—into more challenging and meaningful questions. Jolliff concludes by arguing that although Giardina’s initial fame has been tied to her significance as an Appalachian novelist, future studies must look beyond the regional to the deeply human questions her novels so persistently engage.

William Jolliff's newest collection of poetry is a love song for a way of life that is no more. With the coming of industrial agriculture to rural Ohio, family farms and the communities they created and sustained passed away. And so too, now, have the women, the men, and most of the children who did the work. In the tradition of wise old farmers who would never let simple truth get in the way of a complicated story, At Rest in My Father's House is a confluence of family fictions, real-life events, and transformed memories. Each poem offers readers an intimate passage into the bottomlands of flyover country. Taken together, they chronicle a particular sensibility, a way of being in relationship with a place that-though ignored by the broader culture-is well worth remembering.

At Rest in My Father's House

Poetry

Aubade Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jolliff, William. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jolliff, William

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jolliff, William. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Whatever Was Ripe (Bright Hill Press At-Hand Chapbook Series)

Twisted Shapes of Light (Poiema Poetry)

Twisted Shapes of Light (Poiema Poetry)

Heeding the Call: A Study of Denise Giardina's Novels

Heeding the Call: A Study of Denise Giardina's Novels

At Rest in My Father's House