Back40 Publishing presents
Walking On An Old Road,
Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel’s
South Valley Arts collection
of prose and poetry
published from 1993--2000 . . .
To order securely, [click here].
-- The newest University of California in Merced honored the life and literary legacy of with an opening reception in September on the third floor of the Kolligian Library featuring selected material from Wilma’s personal papers, which were donated to the University in the summer of 2008. Gerald Haslam, professor emeritus, Sonoma State University, gave an emotional and engaging talk about Wilma and her writing. The exhibit, curated by UCM alumna Kacy Marume, runs through January 30, 2010.
Wilma’s papers are the first of their kind bequeathed to this newest UC campus for archiving; keeping true to Wilma’s request to keep her work present and alive in California’s Great Central Valley. Her family lived with relatives in the nearby town of Livingston when they first arrived in California as Dust Bowl refugees from Oklahoma in 1936.
Second editions were published in September for two Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel titles, The Ketchup Bottle and Tatted Lace (and Other Handmade Poems).
As well, research continues collecting and compiling for a definitive Collected\Selected Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel edition that will include a comprehensive collection of Wilma’s poetry and a companion volume of her prose.
[This publisher is still searching for two chapbooks of early work by Ms. McDaniel: Buttermilk Children (1974); and With This Crackerjack Ring (1977). Please e-mail james@back40publishing.com if anyone has copies.]
Dear friend and noted “Dust Bowl” Okie Folk Poet passed from this life on April 13, 2007 after 88 years. Wilma wrote voluminously of her culture. Her sharecropper family was forced from Oklahoma by massive dust storms and the Great Depression; one among thousands making their desperate exodus to California in search of survival. As a teenager she brought with her “the fire and burden of poetry,” which remained her constant and often critical companion through those following decades.
An Illustrated Bibliography of Titles by Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel is the most recent addition to these pages and is a fairly comprehensive resource for those interested in learning more about this unique American poet and her lifework . . .
With exceptions, most hail from the Central San Joaquin Valley and western Sierra Nevada foothills of California. Native California poet and others are featured here as material is gathered and edited . . .
Comments? To reach Back40 Publishing, please contact: james@back40publishing.com (back to top)