Marjorie Kowalski Cole: poetry & prose

Review in Cirque

2011-01-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

Inside, Outside, Morningside was reviewed recently in Cirque, an impressive new literary magazine from Anchorage. Jeremy Pataky's review (p. 114) is generally positive. He writes, "At her best, Cole brings her attention and skill to bear upon the natural world and the daily intersections of nature and daily life. She demonstrates the ability to describe the world simply and to refrain from too much commentary or interpretation…"

Green Books Campaign 2010: review from A View from the Cave

2010-11-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

The Green Books Campaign celebrates books and publishers that reduce the carbon and pollution footprint of the publishing industry. Inside, Outside, Morningside uses 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper, and so definitely qualifies. This review, from the blog A View from the Cave, is somewhat mixed, but the reviewer says this:

The collection of poems are a long love letter to Alaska and her environment. It is the beauty of the landscape that allows Cole to find God and explore her own faith. The interruption of human activity is noted but only injected sparsely. The real focus is the Alaska that called to Jack London and pulled Chris McCandless into her. Robert Frost she is not, but Cole has a strong grasp on her surroundings made tragic by her passing and the lost opportunity to see promise flourish. I recommend this collection as the onset of fall provides the perfect time to take in what Hopkins, a clear influence, called “God’s Grandeur.”

Poetry Dredge Festival 2010

2010-04-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

The Annual Poetry Dredge Festival, hosted by the Fairbanks Arts Association, will be held from 2 pm to 5 pm on Saturday, April 24 at 29 mile Steese Highway at the Chatanika Gold Dredge. This year the festival is dedicated to Marjorie Kowalski Cole, who was one of the founders of the festival. People are invited to read from her work, or to bring their own or their favorite works to read.

Fairbanks-Alaska.com has a map showing how to get to the dredge and the Chatanika Lodge.

"Pushkin" on the Writer's Almanac

2010-04-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Garrison Keillor read Marjorie's poem, "Pushkin," on the Writer's Almanac on April 3. Response across the blogosphere has been positive. One example comes from Writ In Water: "I was struck by the careful observations of the feline nature and how eloquently expressive Cole is in her description of the quiet dignity of the cat, Pushkin."

The Anchorage Press ran a short article about the reading also, in the April 7th edition.

Two reviews of Inside, Outside, Morningside

2010-03-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

Marjorie's collection of poetry has so far received two reviews, one in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and the other in the Cambridge Book Review blog, Coffee Spew.

By David A. James, in the News-Miner:

What struck me most about Marjorie was that she spent significantly more time than most of us engaged in that sadly undervalued act of thinking. Fortunately…she frequently put her thoughts down on paper, often in the form of short, penetrating poetry. “Inside, Outside, Morningside,” a collection of some of her work has just been published by the Ester Republic Press, providing readers with an opportunity to discover a voice that was taken from us too soon.…while the poems are deeply felt, the poet isn’t selfobsessed. Kowalski Cole was, more than anything else, an observer. And she possessed a rare gift for finding words that brought her observations to life.

From CBR:

Alaskan poet Marjorie Kowalski Cole’s collection, Inside, Outside, Morningside (Ester Republic Press, 2009), won me over on the first page in the concluding lines of “Desire”:

The aspens shake in the wind
like the bells of a prayer wheel.
I would have what is within and without
arrive at one still moment
together.

A rare balance is struck “within and without” that continues poem after poem. The natural world astounds…Themes coalesce around Cole’s multiple roles as mother, daughter, wife, world traveler, spiritual seeker and environmentalist. None of these categories are mutually exclusive. Connectedness is everything.

The Writer's Almanac

2010-03-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

Garrison Keillor, of Prairie Home Companion and Writer's Almanac fame, plans to read Marjorie's poem "Pushkin," from Inside, Outside, Morningside, on the Writer's Almanac, April 3, 2010!

Marjorie's author page on Amazon

2010-03-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

Amazon.com has a nice feature for writers: the Author's Page, where books or articles by a particular author can be viewed, a photo and biography of the author is displayed, and a search link for other work by the same author can be found. Marjorie has one, which includes her novel Correcting the Landscape, and to which Inside, Outside, Morningside should be added soon.

Green Press Initiative

2010-02-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

Inside, Outside, Morningside, like all of the Ester Republic Press' books, uses recycled paper and printers that participate in the Green Press Initiative. Here's the breakdown for Marjorie's poetry book:

Poetry book now available

2010-02-09T11:24:00.001-08:00

Inside, Outside, Morningside, Marjorie's collection of poems, has been published and is now available either directly from the publisher or from Gulliver's Books, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Review copies are being sent out and more store outlets will have this collection soon.

2010-01-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

To listen to Alan Cheuse's review of Correcting the Landscape, click here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5148106

To read more reviews of Marjorie's prize-winning novel, follow this link: http://www.correctingthelandscape.blogspot.com/

NAEC Tribute moved to January 28

2010-01-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

The Northern Alaska Environmental Center's tribute to Marjorie has been rescheduled for January 28, 7 pm, Noel Wien Library auditorium:

We are inviting friends and family of Marjorie to spend an evening voicing her poetry and other literary expressions. She was a featured Northern Voices speaker shortly after her first novel was published. More than that, she served on the Northern Center's Education Committee and helped organize the Northern Voices series. She located speakers, hung posters, and hosted many of the presentations.

For more information on this event and how to participate, please contact Ritchie Musick at 479-5336 or ritchiemusick@gci.net. A final program will be drawn up after January 15. Please contact her before then.

Northern Voices – Tribute to Marjorie Cole

2009-12-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 14: Northern Voices – Tribute to Marjorie Cole
7pm @ Noel Wien Library Auditorium (1215 Cowles).

A tribute to author and poetess Marjorie Cole, featuring poetry and excerpts from her writings read by friends and fans. Free to the public. Sponsored by the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and the Fairbanks North Star Borough Library Northern Voices is a lively forum for Alaskan writers, artists, composers, and other visionaries inspired by the Alaskan environment— to share their relationship and connection to our incomparable land through their creative works. For more details about this or other Northern Voices events, please visit www.northern.org.

1953-2009

2009-12-23T15:41:00.000-08:00

Marjorie died on December 4, 2009. There have been several obituaries and reflections on her life by various authors since. These include:

• "Poetry & Pies: Marjorie Kowalski Cole, 1953-2009," by Deirdre Helfferich, The Ester Republic, December 18, 2009
• "Marjorie Kowalski Cole," Wikipedia entry
• "Marjorie Kowalski Cole: 1953-2009," The Bellwether Prize for Fiction, 2009 update*
• "Light Reading," A Novel Idea, December 7, 2009
• "Marjorie Kowalski Cole," obituary, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, December 7, 2009

This blog is dedicated to her writing, both works published and as yet unpublished.

* 2/13/10 addendum: the obituary is no longer on the Bellwether Prize site, but here is the text:

Marjorie Kowalski Cole
1953-2009

Marjorie Kowalski Cole, age 56 and the third recipient of The Bellwether Prize for Fiction in 2004, died December 4, 2009, at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. She was a lifelong champion for literature, who folded a passion for nature into her work and her life.

She is survived by her husband, John Patrick Lambert, “the love of her life,” and two sons, Henry Liam Cole and Desmond Eugene Rynn Cole. A resident of Alaska since 1966, she worked as a librarian in Anchorage and Fairbanks over the course of her career until retiring in 1999 to focus on writing. Correcting the Landscape, for which she was awarded the Bellwether, was published by HarperCollins in 2005. Her literary efforts will continue to be recognized as her poetry collection, Inside, Outside, Morningside, will be published soon. Marjorie was also completing a novel, A Spell on the Water, at the time of her death, and her prizewinning first novel remains in print.__She gathered many friends at home and the world over. She traveled widely, often—literally—on foot, as in the case of a 500-mile trek with her husband and son Desmond, along the pilgrim path from France across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. In her community, she worked with the Literacy Council of Alaska, the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, the Alaska Peace Center and the Fairbanks Arts Association, to name a few.

Barbara Kingsolver, founder of The Bellwether Prize for Fiction, said, “Marjorie’s life was too short, and we mourn her loss as we celebrate with her friends and family a life well-lived. Marjorie committed herself passionately to the things she believed in, and has left a legacy in her writing that will continue to inspire readers. I’m grateful that our paths crossed as they did, through The Bellwether Prize. I am honored to have known and worked alongside such a brave, truth-seeking, spirited person as Marjorie Cole.”