By Mark B. Hamilton. Shanti Arts Press, 2020.
OYO, The Beautiful River is environmental literature, a book-length sequence of lyric narratives written from a journey down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, PA, to Cairo, IL, in a 15-foot rowing dory. It explores the vulnerability of identity and relationships within this oftentimes polluted and quickly changing place we call home, our nation, this world. A theme of reciprocity develops between self and river, between the human and the elemental, and honors the First Nations with a belief that justice and compassion are the appropriate and inevitable outcomes to the respect we give to the Earth.
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MEDIA QUOTES and BLURBS:
“You have written beautifully…about a wonderful adventure.”
–David Remnick, editor, The New Yorker
“…a keen eye and a wise voice….a major text to American environmental literature and poetry.”
–Dr. Darlene Mathis-Eddy Professor Emeritus, Folklore and Literature, BSU
“…remarkably told in trenchant verse…a wail and a love-song…”
–Robert Michael Pyle, author, Sky Time in Gray’s River:…, and Chasing Monarchs
