River Road

Wayne Caldwell is the author of the novels Cataloochee (2007) and Requiem by Fire (2010) and the poetry collection Woodsmoke (2021). He has won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award from the Western North Carolina Historical Association, and the James Still Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He lives with his wife, Mary, just west of Asheville, on land that has been in her family since 1831. In his spare time, he works up firewood.

"In the River Road poems we attend again the valiant voice of Susan McFalls, she who entranced us in the Woodsmoke collection. A little older, a bit more experienced, she has not essentially changed. And so we, her attentive audience, are expectant, reassured, and pleased to follow and applaud. These poems speak and happen all at once, convincing, admirable, true."—Fred Chappell, As If It Were and I Am One of You Forever"Wayne Caldwell’s River Road is a wonderful sequel to his Woodsmoke, that tour de force of Appalachian voice and language. The speaker of this engaging new collection, a friend of the now-deceased Posey Green who narrated the first book, is not a native of the mountains like him, but her imagination, wit, and sympathetic spirit help us to see their corner of the world—now her home, too—with fresh eyes. How fortunate we are to have this vividly detailed poetic diptych, embodying the Appalachia that endures even as it changes."—Michael McFee, A Long Time to Be Gone and Earthly"In this deeply satisfying collection of poems, Wayne Caldwell invites readers to pause and sit a spell. We are rewarded with poetic meditations about the beauty of Appalachia, nature, solitude, spirituality, rebirth, and the creative impulse. Both playful and somber, Caldwell pokes fun at literary artifice at the same time he demonstrates the power of prosody to celebrate one’s love for these mountains. This is a collection for every season."—Erica Abrams Locklear, Appalachia on the TablePraise for Wayne Caldwell's Woodsmoke:"The beauty of Woodsmoke is that it gives us the pleasures of both poetry and prose as it unveils not only the story of one man’s life, but the story of a whole culture. I’ve long admired Wayne Caldwell’s novels, and I’m now an admirer of his poetry. Woodsmoke is an absolute delight."—Ron Rash, In the Valley and Serena"Sit in a quiet place, preferably in front of a woodfire, take deep breaths, and listen to Posey Green. His voice is a beautiful elegy for a southern Appalachian language and mindset almost gone."—Charles Frazier, Varina and Cold Mountain"A beautiful book that reminded me of things about our culture that are so often overlooked. Woodsmokeand Posey are rooted in the core of the Appalachian spirit: a commitment to hard work, the land, and neighborliness. Like splitting and stacking wood, this collection of poems honors the complex intricacies of a life so many might refer to as simple or easy."—Savannah Sipple, WWJD and Other Poems"Alert to the equal importance of nature’s most miniscule creatures and the power of one’s true love, this collection touches on the common threads that bind us all together."—Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Even As We Breathe"Skeptical, thoughtful, funny, proud, and humble, Posey Green tells the most telling truths. I read this volume through, then read it again. For dessert."—Fred Chappell, As If It Were and I Am One of You Forever "At once familiar and alive with curiosities and the kind of delight in the unknown I seek out in a book of poems, Woodsmoke brings me to a familiar landscape and breaks it open for me to feel anew."—Matthew Wimberley, All the Great Territories