He has been out there somewhere for a while now a poet at large in America.Simon Ortiz one of our finest living poets has been a witness participantand observer... » 

He has been out there somewhere for a while now a poet at large in America.Simon Ortiz one of our finest living poets has been a witness participantand observer of interactions between the EuroAmerican cultural world and thatof his Native American people for many years. In this collection of hauntingnew work he confronts moments and instances of his personal past and findsredemption in the wellspring of his culture.A writer known for deeply personal poetry Ortiz has produced perhaps his mostpersonal work to date. In a collage of journal entries freeverse poems andrenderings of poems in the Acoma language he draws on life experiences overthe past ten years recalling time spent in academic conferences and writerscolonies jails and detox centers to convey something of the personal andcultural history of dislocation. As an American Indian artist living at timeson the margins of mainstream culture Ortiz has much to tell about the trialsof alcoholism poverty displacement. But in the telling he affirms thestrength of Native culture even under the most adverse conditions and confirmsthe sustaining power of Native beliefs and connections With our hands weknow the sacred earth. With our spirits we know the sacred sky.Like many of his fellow Native Americans Ortiz has been out there somewhere Portland and San Francisco Freiburg Germany and Martinique away fromhis original homeland culture and community. Yet as these works show hecontinues to be absolutely connected socially and culturally to Nativeidentity We insist that we as human cultural beings must always have thisconnection he writes because it is the way wemaintain a Native sense ofexistence. Drawing on this storehouse of places times and events Out ThereSomewhere is a rich fusion taking readers into the heart and soul of one oftodays most exciting and original American poets. «