Winning the Dust Bowl (Volume 47)

by Carter Revard

Bootleggers and bankrobbers in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl. Proctors and punters at Oxford. Activists and agitators of the American Indian Movement. Carter Revard has known them all, and in this book— a memoir in prose and poetry— he interweaves the many threads of his life as only a gifted writer can. Winning the Dust Bowl traces Revard's development from a poor Oklahoma farm boy during the depths of the Depression to a respected medieval scholar and outstanding Native American poet. It recounts his search for a personal and poetic voice, his struggle to keep and expand it, and his attempt to find ways of reconciling the disparate influences of his life. In these pages, readers will find poems both new and poems of family and home, of loss and survival. In linking— what he calls "cocooning"— essays, Revard shares what he has noticed about how poems come into being, how changes in style arise from changes in life, and how language can be used to deal with one's relationship to the world. He also includes stories of Poncas and Osages, powwow stories and Oxford fables, and a gallery of photographs that capture images of his past. Revard has crafted a book about poetry and authorship, about American history and culture. Lyrical in one breath and stingingly political in the next, he calls on his mastery of language to show us the undying connection between literature and life.

Genres: History, Memoir, Poetry

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Carter Curtis Revard is an American poet, scholar, and writer. He is of European American and Osage descent, and grew up on the tribal reservation in Oklahoma. He is also known by his Osage name, Nompehwahthe, given to him by his paternal grandmother.
Her earned a PhD in English at Yale University in 1959. He first aught at Amherst College, and moved to Washington University in St. Louis in 1961, where he spend the rest of his academic career, specializing in medieval British literature and linguistics.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous intimate glimpse into his life. Prose sprinkled with poetry. Carter was highly educated, a professor of English who started life in poverty on the reservation. He does not shrink from talking about the difficulties he encountered. Well written and heartfelt.

[Cam Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

just another book for class

[Richard Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This interesting book is written in prose and poetry and recounts the author growing up in a mixed-blood family of Indian and Irish and Scotch-Irish folks.