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Jean Feraca's 'Rendered into Paradise' released by Parallel Press
Posted 10/18/2002
MADISON, Wis.--Madison-area poet, essayist, and public radio host Jean Feraca examines the complexities of relationships, and the illness and death of her mother, in a recently published collection of poetry, Rendered into Paradise.
The collection, published by the UW-Madison Libraries Parallel Press, is Feraca's first in ten years. The poems were inspired primarily by her family and her experiences throughout her mother's long illness and her death. Feraca says this collection is a personal triumph and is pleased that the reader can connect with the imagery and feelings she emotes.
The enormity of Feraca's experiences are reflected in "Panorama in the Anza-Borrego Desert," "This is the only thing/as big as my mother's death." Her poetry intuitively reflects the sense of helplessness and anguish that one feels watching a loved one slip away. Yet, in the last poem, Rendered into Paradise, the reader sees that she has come to understand that happiness still abounds, it "hides right out in the open. . ." and "you have to really want it."
Jean Feraca is Wisconsin Public Radio's host and co-producer of the
nationally recognized
call-in news and cultural affairs program, Conversations with Jean
Feraca. Her commentaries are also heard on Wisconsin Public Radio's
international syndicate, To the Best of Our Knowledge.
Feraca worked as a free-lance reporter for National Public Radio before joining Wisconsin Public Radio in l983. She published her first book of poetry, South From Rome: II Mezzogiorno, in 1975 and received The Nation's l975 Discovery Award, which named her "one of the most promising poets of her generation."
In 1992 Feraca published her second poetry book, Crossing the Great Divide, which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her writings have been anthologized in The Dream Book, which won the American Book Award in l986. She is currently working on a book about her experiences as a radio talk-show host. Feraca lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband.
Here is a sample poem from Rendered into Paradise
"Vigil at Mt. Vernon Stream"
Casting over the water, breathing out
breathing in,
I held that slippery bank for days.
She was the trout I sang to, as the line
poured out, Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra....
Just a song at twilight....
I dream of Jeanie....
She was sly as a smile
as she kept rolling over, flashing a nipple,
and the flies kept hatching out.
It was a game of nip and tuck, hook and lip.
At last, as the grassy stream went dark as a dream,
a bell tolled.
We played each other out.
For more information, visit http://parallelpress.library.wisc.edu/chapbooks/poetry/author.shtml?feraca
Each Parallel Press chapbook is $10; annual subscriptions for six at $50.
Orders may be sent to:
The Parallel Press
372 Memorial Library
728 State St.
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 262-2600
E-mail: parallelpress@library.wisc.edu
