Currently, The Ketchup Bottle (2nd Ed.), Tatted Lace (2nd Ed.) Walking On An Old Road, Getting Love Down Right, We Live or Die in Pixley, and a second printing of Weatherwatch are available through this website or visit the Tulare Historical Museum, 444 W. Tulare Avenue in Tulare, CA.
Topical summaries regarding each title seen here are featured below . . .
The Ketchup Bottle (2nd Edition, ISBN 978-1-929184-22-4), a collection of prose originally published by Chiron Review Press in 1996, this new edition includes additions specifically requested by Wilma in conversations and correspondence we shared in 1999.
Tatted Lace (and Other Handmade Poems) (2nd Edition, ISBN 978-1-929184-21-7), a moving collection of poetry [including eight vignettes] Wilma first published in 1997 as a Back40 chapbook in an all-too-limited print run. This expanded edition is now perfectbound.
Walking On An Old Road (ISBN 978-1-929184-16-3), has a posthumous December 22, 2007 publishing date, coinciding with what would have been Wilma’s 89th birthday. It was nominated for the 2008 Oklahoma Book Award, sponsored by the Oklahoma Center For The Book, through the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.
In perfectbound paperback (225-pp), it presents a complete gathering of all Wilma’s columns and poetry published in South Valley Arts, from her first submission in December 1993 with occasional pieces following, to her monthly contribution on the Reflections page featured in every edition under her own moniker, Walking On An Old Road, from August 1995 through May 2000. In light of her passing, selected correspondence from McDaniel to her friend and publisher is woven chronologically among all her monthly columns and the numerous selections of poetry that ran together on the pages of the former Central Valley arts journal. As such, the book works on three distinct levels, rendering a rather intimate portrait of this nationally-acclaimed poet. It is in loving memory of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel and as a small tribute to Wilma’s literary legacy that this book has been created. Wilma looked forward to seeing her SVA contributions in one edition; she kept a copy of the cover art on the wall in her Tulare apartment.
A Brief Romance in Black Oak Country is an anomaly of sorts and an extremely limited edition. It was done during the period well into Wilma’s declining state of health. It was exceedingly short and became the only ‘pocket print’ edition; consisting of one short vignette on seven pages at 4.25" x 5.5" in size. The cover art was from a striking original (but uncompleted) painting by Nancy LaCroix that Wilma had hung on her apartment wall. She loved it so dearly that she was impelled to have it grace the cover of some of her own work; a story of a trip to Paso Robles with her late younger sister, Opal. The full working title of this final Back40 piece while Wilma was living . . . A Brief Romance in Black Oak Country, 1980s: With Texas Tea Holding Steady and a Steinbeck Story. An expanded second edition is in the planning stages that will include three additional vignettes by Wilma as lead-ins to this light-hearted tale.
Getting Love Down Right (ISBN 1-929184-11-5), is a solid collection of 44 McDaniel poems, primarily scribed in the 80s and 90s. More than a few autobiographical references are folded in here--most noticeably, her poem on the back cover, Courtly Young Men. This is an arresting snapshot of Wilma at her peak, accompanied by cinematographer Chris Simon’s equally stirring photograph from Wilma’s memorable poetry reading at Weedpatch, CA in Oct ’98, [seen in the ‘visual timeline’ in this website]. The foreword quotes novelist, essayist Cornelia Jessey: “The poetry of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel is in a special category. I define that category by quoting a Zen teaching--‘If you want to hold something in life, hold it as gently as you would hold water in your hand’ ”; and the late jazz poet Fr. Lawrence Gerst: “Her [McDaniel’s] words tell massive truth worthy of a playwright who knows the language of the people. She uses it so the poetry is not lost and the truth can come in like the light of a firefly. The light goes out, but the truth stays in.”
Of interest, the cover photo of the bride is Wilma’s niece, Bernis McDaniel Wagner, on her wedding day--not Wilma herself, as so many have often assumed--Wilma never married.
The classic McDaniel poem We Live or Die in Pixley (ISBN 1-929184-07-7), serves as an introduction to the 66 pages that follow in this novella by the same name. Fictional tales of selected folk Wilma brings to life that reside in the Central Valley town of Pixley are interwoven through what starts as a typical, yet climaxes into an unforgettable set of experiences of a summer gone by in this quiet California farming town. The original collage art used on the cover was created by Wilma.
At 95 pages, Weatherwatch (ISBN 1-929184-06-9), was the first perfectbound Back40 edition by McDaniel. Spanning 30 short chapters, Wilma weaves together recollections of one early Spring’s adventurous visit by her Uncle Garland to her Mother’s ‘F’ Street home in Tulare [where Wilma lived as a younger woman], and their across-the-county travels in his trusty old car Beelzebub. This edition is now in its second printing.
House with a Gold Door (ISBN 1-929184-05-0), is a 39-page chapbook broken down into thirteen chapters that chronicle the fictional lives of Central Valley folk of varied backgrounds and ethnicities. Vonell Weaver’s search for a home sets the stage; cover illustration by Julie Ball. A second edition is planned, but without the hand-painted door panels, bucket and brush that were accented on the limited first edition.
Wilma’s own introduction sums it all up in Cooking for Eli (ISBN 1-929184-04-2), a warm-hearted tale interspersed with Okie staple recipies. “It does not do him justice as he lives out his long life on the front porch, in the green chair at night, in the small house for meals and his late afternoon tea. A great cat! Miss Callie will not want another one.” Cover art by the author. Wilma, in collaboration with poet Art Cuelho, published her first edition of Eli in 1978 that had a few extras compared to the reprise edition done with Back40 in 1998. A third expanded edition is planned that will re-introduce the original texts found in an original copy of the first edition that Wilma left out when she assembled the contents for her 1998 edition.
In Tatted Lace (and Other Handmade Poems) (ISBN 1-929184-03-4), Wilma deftly combined short prose pieces with her classically sparse, plain-spoken poetry for some deeply revelatory work in this 50-page chapbook edition. Eight vignettes are tucked among the majority of great poems she presents here. The five poems highlighted on the previous page of this website can be found in this short-but-sweet collection. [Now in print, see second edition above].
Martha and Mary (ISBN 1-929184-02-6), is a 21-page short story that Wilma referred to as being ‘semi-autobiographical’ in nature. It chronicles the childhood adventures and darker travails of one Hootie Madden, accompanied by her two ragdolls as confidants. Cover illustration by Julie Ball. A second edition is planned with a new introduction vignette by Ms. McDaniel found in her correspondence to the publisher.
Hanging Out at the Avalon Cafe (ISBN 1-929184-01-8), was Wilma’s second Back40 chapbook, inspired by a short-lived Visalia dining spot that featured some wonderful poetry nights on Main St. Here, quick sketches in prose of fellow Okies that have fallen under Wilma’s watchful scrutiny are secured. Three include revealing poems placed directly into their content, along with one stand-alone poem that rounds out this 32-piece collection; cover illustration by Julie Ball. A second edition is planned.
McDaniel published her first Back40 limited edition in 1995, entitled A Bowl of Sopas (ISBN 1-929184-00-X). The vignettes she included in this small chapbook blend warm, nostalgic highlights of interwoven lives of two distinct groups of transplants: ‘Okies’ and ‘Portugees’ and their shared experiences in the Central Valley towns Wilma came to know so well since arriving in California in 1936. Wilma’s good friend, Portugee, fellow poet and artist Art Cuelho, did the cover illustration. As Wilma indicated with additional vignettes that accompanied her correspondence, an expanded second edition is planned.
At this time; other second editions are planned of the remaining Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel out-of-print titles published by Back40 Publishing, as well as second printings of rare earlier collections that Wilma self-published. Other editions by Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel presented posthumously by Back40 will be noted here as plans are developed.
In 2004, Wilma sent her original manuscript, Under the Magnolia Tree, a novella written out in her characteristic longhand script, which has yet to be completely transposed for layout, pagination and publishing. Wilma planned expanded second editions of several of her previous Back40 titles, as well as second editions of some of her other previously-published titles. Also in hand are longhand copies of Moving Away from 1995 and A Strand of Crystal Beads, both awaiting appearance in final published form; and other pieces of prose Wilma wanted set aside because “. . . we might well work these into some of our less complete books in the future.”
As well, research has begun on researching, compiling, and arranging 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--though this is proving to be quite an undertaking. Wilma is missed, but I will do my best to keep this remarkable woman’s poetry and prose in print for future generations to discover and enjoy!
All poetry and prose of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel presented here and on the adjoining webpages are
© 2009 Back40 Publishing, Sebastopol, California; and are posted on the pages of this website in tribute to,
in memory of, and as an informative resource highlighting the late poet and her literary legacy
Comments? To reach Back40 Publishing, please contact: james@back40publishing.com (back to top) (back to home page)