The Grapevine Art & Soul Salon: Author Page, Barbara Knott
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Reader Responses
The floral arrangement of Barbara Knott's beautiful new collection of poetry, IN EVERY CARNATION: The Body of God, contains musical and philosophical meditations full of glorious creations such as "Boxwood," a poem both elegy for grandmother Della and petal in the flower of theological exploration, with luminous language and visionary moments such as this: In dreams/ I dislodge her body/ from roadside layers of stone ....
Knott's poetry is rich in imagery and always centered on the exploration promised in its title. Like the romantic poets and writers such as Lorca, Jung, and Eliot, bouqueted in the preface, Knott takes up the search for the divine in the material world. As we see, for example, in "Fox Eyes": Each tree begins its own big life/ a hundred times as big as the life of a human/ inside a seed small as an acorn ....
Intertwining myth, religion, nature and true human lives, Knott leaves no stone unturned as she seeks for "The God Secret." So, as you read these wonderful poems, find yourself entranced, like the witness in the poem "Under Closed Eyelids": fill us with desire/ and through the beloved/ lead us to more abundant life!
............ from Douglas Cole, who has his own new collection of poems (reviewed in V&R), THE GOLD TOOTH IN THE CROOKED SMILE OF GOD.
HURRAH for Barbara Knott's stunning new book!
I am struck by Barbara Knott's ability to write deeply meditative poems sparked off by simple natural effects from a bush or a flower as though drawing energy from the inner cosmic life of things to fill her poems. It reminds me of D. H. Lawrence very much: an "incarnate" vision with "intelligence of the heart." Early memories join later ones, as in the poem called "The Body of God," so that the attitudes and archetypal perspectives of speaker Barbara resonate with broader relevance. I read and am so involved in the poem's effect on me that I neglect to say to myself, "OK, this is a Barbara Knott poem about HER." I feel I'm in the presence of someone who's found her authentic voice; it is that utter simplicity achieved after the most strenuous discipline. Everything compounded of art and nature, happily bedded down together. Sincere heart talk ... no preciosity!!!
I love her book and will continue savoring the poems as well as the book's marvellous production values.
............ from Christopher Blake, editor of River of Cliffs, A Linville Gorge Reader (2005), and author of Images of America's Linville Gorge Wilderness Area (2009).
In Barbara Knott's third collection of poems, her relationship to nature and the natural world is exquisitely rendered, as are her relations to other humans. In these poems, erudite references find their place among the everyday ... say, finding a dead beetle or watching a squirrel climb a bird feeder; her two small dogs, too, become characters in one of the highly original erotic pieces at the book's center, and her visit to an art gallery with an elderly friend is nothing short of amazing in its references and detail. Yet, despite its accessibility, there's not an ordinary word or image in this book. Over the years, Barbara Knott has honed a unique voice for herself, and In Every Carnation is a collection I will turn to again and again.
Rosemary Daniell, award-winning author of eight books of poetry and prose, including A Sexual Tour of the Deep South (poems) and Fatal Flowers (memoir), and recipient of a tribute by the literary journal Minerva Rising in the naming of their Rosemary Daniell Fiction Prize.
Barbara Knott's "Boxwood" is one of the most astounding poems I've read recently. She has a voice that can reach high notes, and I hope that like a diva she will keep on singing them. I love her work and wish her and her readers a long and wonderful love affair.
Nikki Giovanni, author of more than twenty books of poetry who, as judge of New Millennium Writings' Awards 28 poetry competition, chose "Boxwood" as first-prize winner.
I love reading Barbara Knott's poetry because it refreshes the soul and challenges the mind like an afternoon spent with a witty and intelligent friend. Each poem left me feeling as if I too had known Manta and that I was better off for the experience.
Kim Brown, Editor in Chief, Minerva Rising Literary Journal, on Barbara Knott's chapbook MANTA Poems, where "The Body of God" appears as "Two Ladies Discover Dali's Nuclear Mysticism."
See one of the poems from IN EVERY CARNATION: The Body of God featured on FLP's The Paddock Review: "Luna Moths"
Award-winning poet and fiction writer Barbara Knott says of her work: I am interested in the world and its diversity of creatures, in what makes us human, and in whatever lies in the depths of human experience, where oppositions lay down their arms, where the erotic meets the sacred, and where serious sits down with humor to sort it all out.
And this: My goal as a writer is to bring the reader into an ongoing conversation about what speaks to my imagination, which is presently focused on our human need to revitalize our connection to the more-than-human world and to the values of creativity, compassion, and harmony with ourselves, with each other, and with the world we live in, each of us an ark that carries creation toward renewal. The image of the ark allows me to think and feel the presence of nature and my role in nurturing the mother/father of us all, so that we do not allow species (including our own) casually to disappear. We can, each in our own way, create a clarion call for consciousness by offering up a cup full of our own awareness, fully embodied soul from the depths of a strong heart and mind. Let's do it!
AWARDS AND PUBLICATIONS
In 2009 Barbara's poem "Boxwood" was selected by Judge Nikki Giovanni as first-prize winner of the New Millennium Writings Awards 28 prize for poetry. In 2010 Francois Camoin chose her short story "Song of the Goatman" as third-prize winner in the Writers at Work fiction competition. In 2013 Ireland's Fish Publishing short-listed "Apples in the Cellar of Dread and Desire" for their prize in short memoir. Her short story "The Legend of Abigail Jones" received first prize in the wild card category of Atlanta Writers Club's Spring 2014 competitions. Barbara was among a select group of poets representing Finishing Line Press as readers at the Abroad Writers' Conference in Dublin, December 2015. Her work has been published in Minerva Rising, The Distillery, Now and Then, New Millennium Writings, Pilgrimage and Permafrost.
BOOKS
Besides IN EVERY CARNATION: The Body of God, Barbara has had two chapbooks published by Finishing Line Press: Soul Mining (2011) and MANTA Poems (2015).
Barbara Knott's "Boxwood" is one of the most astounding poems I've read recently. She has a voice that can reach high notes, and I hope that like a diva she will keep on singing them. I love her work and wish her and her readers a long and wonderful love affair.
Nikki Giovanni, author of 16 books of poetry including Bicycles: Love Poems (2009). As Judge of New Millennium Writings' Awards 28 poetry competition, she chose "Boxwood" as first prize winner.
Barbara Knott's poetry is deftly written and a pleasure to read. Soul Mining is a true gem.
Leah Maines, author of Beyond the River.
Barbara Knott's aptly titled Soul Mining is a treasure trove of wisdom, both ancient and modern. Her expression of depth and evocativeness in these highly original poems is stunning. Indeed, this first collection is a tour de force that will delight every serious reader of poetry.
Rosemary Daniell, author of A Sexual Tour of the Deep South (poems) and Fatal Flowers (memoir), as well as other books of poetry and prose. She is founder and leader of Zona Rosa writing workshops.
A collection of poems celebrating the liveliness and humor embodied and inspired by MANTA MAE ADAMS LESTER who departed this world on December 13, 2013, at age 96, and who would have turned 100 on September 12, 2017.
Barbara Knott's second collection, MANTA Poems, is an apt and generous demonstration of how it is not necessary to wait, as poets so often do, for dramatic epiphanies to come to them before making poems. In this story -- and it is a story -- Knott gives us perfectly shaped pieces crammed with wit, concrete detail and the deliciousness to be found in the ordinary things of life, which, all coming together, express an elegant and hard-won philosophy. In them, her sensitivity, intelligence and poetic control shine through as she addresses, in a profound and original way, the possibilities of a life lived simply but well. Indeed, this deceptively uncomplicated yet beautiful book will bring pleasure and aha moments to her many readers.
Rosemary Daniell, author of two collections of poetry, A Sexual Tour of the Deep South and Fort Bragg & Other Points South, as well as a chapbook, The Feathered Trees, and six other books.
Barbara Knott's collection pays a wonderful tribute to her friend Manta Lester. "Manta Finds Her Edge" draws the reader into the richness of their friendship while capturing Manta's essence. "Two Ladies Discover Dali's Nuclear Mysticism" is another wonderful poem. I greatly admire Manta for her acute mind at her age and Barbara for teaching me more about Dali. Through the words and images with which Barbara shaped these poems, both Manta's memory and their friendship endure. I even found myself feeling a bit jealous that Manta had not been my friend, too. MANTA Poems is a memorable read.
Anne Webster, author of the poetry collection, A History of Nursing.
I love reading Barbara Knott's poetry because it refreshes the soul and challenges the mind like an afternoon spent with a witty and intelligent friend. Each poem left me feeling as if I too had known Manta and that I was better off for the experience.
Kim Brown, Editor in Chief, Minerva Rising Literary Journal. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Today's Chicago Woman, The National View Alumni Magazine, Naperville Sun and Pitkin Review.
WORK CIRCULATING
RED MOON OVER MUSCADINE, a coming of age novel with story chapters that help create a rich context for Aradella Stark's youth. An early version of the manuscript was short-listed in a James Jones First Novel Competition under the title Muscadine.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
THE ART OF LYING DOWN, a novel set in Atlanta, Georgia, in the 1990s.
GOAT SONGS, a book of short stories with the same setting as the Aradella Stark novel: rural north Georgia, first half of the twentieth century.
KEEPERS OF THE FIRE, a play, an appreciation of Native Americans who produced the Etowah Mounds in Cartersville, Georgia.
Barbara Knott PHOTOS by Jonathan Knott (top) and Bill Kennedy (underneath).
For more information, including bio and links to Barbara's writing for The Grapevine Art and Soul Salon, click on the sidebar's Contributing Artists and then on the link in her name.
You can read her ongoing Journal in Presentations, GV 21.
Celebrating the Love of Life
Join Barbara Knott at these places to explore some web treasures:
Johnny Mathis, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
D. H. Lawrence, Women In Love (film), Fig-eating Scene
On Being, Nikki Giovanni on Soul Food, Sex and Space
There are several references to the work of Wendell Berry in The Grapevine. Here are other glimpses:
Wendell Berry in Music Album trailer
The Peace of Wild Things: Wendell Berry, On Being
A wonderful documentary film on Georgia poet Byron Herbert Reece, starring Atlanta actor Chris Kayser, is available to be watched in full on YouTube: The Bitter Berry
For another masterful poetry presentation featuring Chris Kayser, see
400 Times Shakespeare Totally Blew Our Minds
Copyright 2019, Barbara Knott. All Rights Reserved