Tangled in Vow & Beseech
Jill's latest poetry collection, Tangled in Vow & Beseech from MoonPath Press has been named a finalist for the Sally Albiso Poetry Award and Michigan State University's Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize. This is Jill's third poetry book.
Poet Derek Sheffield writes, "Through an array of poetic forms, Jill McCabe Johnson explores a deep sense of interconnectedness. These lyric tangles help us grapple with a life where the ugliest abuses of person and planet occur alongside a mother's love for her son, the grace of childhood innocence, the anniversary of a first kiss, and the understanding that “in this land” of “dogwood blossom, swordfern and fen” is 'everything' we need to 'believe.'"
Poet Derek Sheffield writes, "Through an array of poetic forms, Jill McCabe Johnson explores a deep sense of interconnectedness. These lyric tangles help us grapple with a life where the ugliest abuses of person and planet occur alongside a mother's love for her son, the grace of childhood innocence, the anniversary of a first kiss, and the understanding that “in this land” of “dogwood blossom, swordfern and fen” is 'everything' we need to 'believe.'"
Trying on new (used) sunglasses at Chine Machine with friends Julie Riddle and Gail Folkins.
Jill McCabe Johnson (she, they) grew up in the Pacific Northwest and spent her childhood digging for clams and geoducks, harvesting wild berries, and reading in poor light. Jill writes poetry and narrative nonfiction, plus occasional forays into fiction, with a deep social conscience and even deeper roots in nature and the natural sciences. Her aims and interests lie at the intersection of protecting the endangered and leaning into what's just and beautiful in this world. So while her writing may address issues such as entrenched racism, gender violence, climate change, or mass killings, she believes every piece of writing at heart is a communique of hope. Jill's scholarship focuses on the influence of walking on literature, and her personal life often veers toward trails, too—from hikes in her beloved Pacific Northwest to historic routes such as the Campostela and Grande Randonnée.
Jill is the author of three full-length poetry collections, including Tangled in Vow & Beseech, finalist in the Sally Albiso Poetry Book Award and Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Award and forthcoming from MoonPath Press, Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown, (Finishing Line, 2017) shortlisted for the Clara Johnson Award in Women's Literature from Jane's Stories Press Foundation, and Diary of the One Swelling Sea (MoonPath, 2013), winner of the Nautilus Book Silver Award in Poetry. Jill is also the author of the nonfiction chapbook Borderlines (Sweet Publications, 2016) and the poetry chapbook, Pendulum (Seven Kitchens, 2017), finalist for the Rane Arroyo Award. Jill is the founder and editor-in-chief at Wandering Aengus Press and its imprint Trail to Table Press.
Honors include support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Hedgebrook, and Artist Trust, plus six Pushcart nominations. She is the recipient of an Academy of American Poets Award, the Mari Sandoz Prairie Schooner Short Story Award, the Paula Jones Gardiner Award from Floating Bridge Press, and the Editors Prize from ScissorTale Review. Her essay, "The Night Gary Drove Me Home," published in Slate, was named a Longreads Best of 2021 Number One Stories and has been translated into fourteen languages. Recent works have been published in Fourth Genre, Slate, The Brooklyn Review, Gulf Stream, The Southeast Review, terrain.org, Waxwing, Bracken, Diode, One Art, and more.
Jill received the Deborah Tall Memorial Fellowship from Pacific Lutheran University, where she received her MFA in Creative Writing, and served as the Louise Van Sickle Fellow in Poetry at the University of Nebraska--Lincoln while earning her PhD in English. Jill teaches Creative Writing at Skagit Valley College in the San Juan Islands. She is dedicated to promoting equity among all humans and protecting the beauty and riches of our planet for future generations. Plus eating good food. These endeavors are not mutually exclusive.
You can reach Jill directly at jill (at) jillmccabejohnson.com
Or say hello on...
Bluesky: @jillmccabejohnson@bsky.social
Twitter: @JMcJohnson
Facebook: jill.mccabejohnson
Instagram: @jjohnson2784
Jill is the author of three full-length poetry collections, including Tangled in Vow & Beseech, finalist in the Sally Albiso Poetry Book Award and Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Award and forthcoming from MoonPath Press, Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown, (Finishing Line, 2017) shortlisted for the Clara Johnson Award in Women's Literature from Jane's Stories Press Foundation, and Diary of the One Swelling Sea (MoonPath, 2013), winner of the Nautilus Book Silver Award in Poetry. Jill is also the author of the nonfiction chapbook Borderlines (Sweet Publications, 2016) and the poetry chapbook, Pendulum (Seven Kitchens, 2017), finalist for the Rane Arroyo Award. Jill is the founder and editor-in-chief at Wandering Aengus Press and its imprint Trail to Table Press.
Honors include support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Hedgebrook, and Artist Trust, plus six Pushcart nominations. She is the recipient of an Academy of American Poets Award, the Mari Sandoz Prairie Schooner Short Story Award, the Paula Jones Gardiner Award from Floating Bridge Press, and the Editors Prize from ScissorTale Review. Her essay, "The Night Gary Drove Me Home," published in Slate, was named a Longreads Best of 2021 Number One Stories and has been translated into fourteen languages. Recent works have been published in Fourth Genre, Slate, The Brooklyn Review, Gulf Stream, The Southeast Review, terrain.org, Waxwing, Bracken, Diode, One Art, and more.
Jill received the Deborah Tall Memorial Fellowship from Pacific Lutheran University, where she received her MFA in Creative Writing, and served as the Louise Van Sickle Fellow in Poetry at the University of Nebraska--Lincoln while earning her PhD in English. Jill teaches Creative Writing at Skagit Valley College in the San Juan Islands. She is dedicated to promoting equity among all humans and protecting the beauty and riches of our planet for future generations. Plus eating good food. These endeavors are not mutually exclusive.
You can reach Jill directly at jill (at) jillmccabejohnson.com
Or say hello on...
Bluesky: @jillmccabejohnson@bsky.social
Twitter: @JMcJohnson
Facebook: jill.mccabejohnson
Instagram: @jjohnson2784