by Joyce James
Poetry
About the Book
Joyce James has honed her poet’s voice to a keen edge in this collection of her work. Her evocative poetry haunts the heart and imagination. Her work is lauded by Seamus Heaney, Editor of the 1984 Special Poetry Issue of Ploughshares who selected “
After Heaney read Ms. James’s poem, “The Wild Canaries on a Twenty-Mile Stretch of Highway,” at his Ploughshares reading, he spoke of the poem having special meaning for him.
Joyce James is often lost in search engines to James Joyce, and like the Irishman, she has a gift for metaphor in her writing. Compact and filled with emotional imagery, Joyce James’s work sings, a lyrical trigger of melancholy, joy, and memory.
About the Author
Joyce Osburn James grew up in Atchison and Nodaway Counties in Missouri. She received a B.S. in Education with a major in English and American Literature, and an M.A. in Literature and Literary Criticism from Northwest Missouri State University. She attended the writing program at the
Ms. James taught creative writing at the University of Houston, Rice University Continuing Education Studies, and Houston Community College.
Her poetry was published in many literary magazines including, Ploughshares, The Missouri Review, The Southern Poetry Review, Crazyhorse, Commonweal, The Ohio Review, and others.
Sadly, she passed away in August of 2017 in Houston, Texas.
