Local poet’s collection published by UW library press

The newly created Parallel Press, an imprint of the UW–Madison General Library System, is publishing its second book, a collection of poetry by award-winning local poet Katherine Whitcomb titled “Hosannas.”

Whitcomb will give a reading from “Hosannas” in Helen C. White Hall, Room 7191, on the UW–Madison campus starting at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 18. She will also give a reading at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 13, in A Room of One’s Own Bookstore and Coffeehouse.

“Hosannas” is a chapbook of nine of Whitcomb’s poems. A chapbook is a small-format literary work, usually of poetry or essays. The word “hosanna” traditionally refers to a shout of praise or an appeal for deliverance. Whitcomb’s poetry addresses both meanings. Informed by her experience driving through the Midwest for 10 years as a traveling sales representative, the poetry reflects her reverence for the region’s people and history.

Whitcomb is currently the 1998-99 Halls Poetry Fellow at the UW–Madison’s Institute for Creative Writing. From 1996-98, she was a Wallace Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford University. She has received the Loft-McKnight Award in Poetry and the Grolier Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals.

To get “Hosannas,” write Silver Buckle Press, 236 Memorial Library, 728 State St., Madison, WI 53706, (608) 263-4929. Each book is $10 plus $3 shipping and handling.