Jeffrey Skinner – författare

In this anthology, distinguished writers explore the relevance of mentors in their education and development as writers. Each author contributes an essay and a story or poem, which together give a unique sense of the forces that shape a writer''s craft and vision.

An 18th-century alchemist working in a Berlin basement inadvertently changed the visual landscape of European warfare. By mixing animal blood with contaminated potash in an attempt to create crimson, he birthed the first modern synthetic pigment: an incredibly stable, deep azure. Prior to this accident, dyeing cloth blue required the expensive and logistically fragile importation of indigo. The Kingdom of Prussia recognized the strategic brilliance of this new chemical compound immediately. By monopolizing the iron-cyanide synthesis, the state could suddenly outfit massive standing armies in uniform, intimidating colors at a fraction of the traditional cost. This massive economic advantage triggered a desperate race among rival nations to infiltrate Prussian dye houses and steal the formula. Trace the geopolitical impact of a single chemical reaction. Understand how an alchemical mistake birthed a synthetic monopoly that standardized the modern military uniform and funded the rise of a European superpower.

Sarah Gorham is the author of two collections of poetry, Don't Go Back to Sleep (Galileo Press, 1989) and The Tension Zone (FourWay Books, 1996). Her work has appeared widely in such places as The Nation, Antaeus, Poetry, The Kenyon Review, Grand Street, The Missouri Review, The Georgia Review, The Southern Review, and Poetry Northwest, where in 1990 she won the Carolyn Kizer Award. She has received grants from the Kentucky State Arts Council, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, the Delaware State Arts Council, and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, She is Editor-in-Chief and President of Sarabande Books, Inc.Jeffrey Skinner has published three collections of poetry, Late Stars (Weslyan University Press, 1985), A Guide to Forgetting (Graywolf Press, 1988) and The Company of Heaven (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992). His work has appeared in numerous literary magazines including The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Nation, The Georgia Review, and Poetry. He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, the Howard Foundation, and several state arts councils. He is also a playwright, and two of his plays were finalists in the Eugene O'Neil Theater Conference competition. He is currently Director of Creative Writing and Professor of English at the University of Louisville.

"Discipline, humility, kindness. These qualities cohere in the best mentors, bundled into an overarching approach to the art of writing. It is not, I think, coincidence that the writers in this collection remember these qualities best when speaking of their mentors as people, as fellow pilgrims who helped them on the way. In some sense, whether consciously or not, we seek out mentors who learn how to live—as an artist, and as a human being."—from the Introduction by Jeffrey SkinnerLee Martin is the author of a collection of stories, The Least You Need to Know (Sarabande, 1996), a memoir From Our House (Dutton 2000), and a novel Just Enough Haughty, also forthcoming from Dutton. He teaches in the creative writing program at the University of North Texas where he also edits the American Literary Review.Jeffrey Skinner is currently Director of Creative Writing at the University of Louisville. His published collections of poetry include The Company of Heaven (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992), Late Stars (Wesleyan University Press, 1985), and A Guide to Forgetting (Graywolf Press, 1988), which was a National Poetry Series selection.Contributors include:Michael Collier on William MeredithJay McInerney on Raymond CarverTess Gallagher on Theodore Roethke and Stanley KunitzReginald Shepherd on Alvin FeinmanDana Gioia on Elizabeth BishopMaura Stanton on Vert Rutsala and John BerrymanElizabeth Graver on Annie Dillard, Angela Carter, Stanley Elkin, and othersSylvia Watanabe on Dorothy VellaDavid Huddle on Peter TaylorDavid Wojahn on James L. WhiteErin McGraw on John L’HeureuxCONTENTSPREFACE by Lee Martin, viiINTRODUCTION: The Scrupulous Philanthropy of Expertise by Jeffrey Skinner, xiMICHAEL COLLIERAn Exact Ratio, 3The Farrier, 12JAY MCINERNEYRaymond Carver: A Still, Small Voice, 15Getting in Touch with Your Child, 24TESS GALLAGHERTwo Mentors: From Orphanhood to Spirit-Companion, 39Behave, 45DAVID HUDDLEWhat about Those Good People?, 51Backstory, 57REGINALD SHEPHERDT