An Author Event with A.R. Johnson

Schedule

Fri Nov 22 2024 at 06:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

East Tennessee History Center | Knoxville, TN

Advertisement
Union Ave Books is excited to present A.R. Johnson for Picture Album. This free event will take place on November 22nd at 6pm at the East Tennessee History Center. Please RSVP here so we know to expect you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A.R. (Rick) Johnson is a native East Tennessean who spent his childhood summers and weekends on his grandmother’s farm, located near the banks of the French Broad River, and his poems reflect a deep connection to the land, its people, and the seasons that shape it. His career has been in business, and he has also led several non-profit corporations and serves on the boards of philanthropic organizations across Tennessee. He lives and works in Knoxville and Nashville and is married to the playwright Mary Donnet Johnson. They have two children, Mary Margaret and Pace.
His poems have appeared in the Connecticut River Review, the Wisconsin Review, the New York Times, and the Cortland Review. He was an invited contributor in poetry to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference from 2012 to 2019, and his manuscript, Pennyroyal and Other Poems, was shortlisted for the 2019 Grayson Books Poetry Prize.
Poet and National Book Award winner B. H. Fairchild writes that Johnson’s poetry “brings…flawless, unforgiving memories of the rural lives of past generations and a poet’s word-hoard of figure and image that renders the past immediate and vivid.”
Novelist, poet, and Middlebury College professor Jay Parini says that this latest collection, Picture Album, is “marvelous work, to savor, to reread eagerly,” and Mary Jo Salter, editor of The Best American Poetry 2024, says its “elegiac mood is pervasive but somehow affirmative. This poet…can only bring us pleasure.”
ABOUT THE BOOK
Picture Album is a collection of poems that range from elegiac to lighthearted, filled with word pictures that take the reader from a creek bed to a corner of the backyard, from a summer hayfield to an urban winter street. There are images imagined, remembered, and soberingly real, people familiar and familial, and always there is the sense of place and season, of noticing the commonplace and just how uncommonly beautiful and important it can be.
The book is divided into four sections, each with a thematic tone and subject. The poems in the first one are words of reflection, remembered circumstances and the lessons and regrets associated with them, places – and those who inhabited them – that are the everyday experiences of life that become extraordinary when they are noticed and carefully considered.
The poems in the second section are whimsical, full of wordplay, and “intelligent,” as one critic called them. They are humorous, sometimes delightfully challenging, and clearly in love with the musicality of poetry.
The third is closely tied to seasons and the weather, how light looks, shadows fall, and birds and other animals make us see ourselves differently by seeing them. The final section is largely a remembrance of the hollows, ridges, and hilltops of a homeplace that was a “threadbare farm” and those who were there in a time “at the end.”
Acclaimed and nationally awarded writers have praised the book, calling it “marvelous,” “affirmative,” “vividly constructed,” and “magic.” Poet, novelist, and screenwriter Jay Parini says “I just loved reading the poems in Picture Album. This is marvelous work, to savor, to reread regularly.”
Sidney Wade, author of Deep Gossip, New and Selected Poems, says “…this author’s delicious imagination is a gathering of images from the life of a family man who is acutely aware of the natural world around him…” Mary Jo Salter, editor of The Best American Poetry 2024, says “Joy in language…emerges in power-packed poems,” and Mark Jarman, Vanderbilt University professor emeritus and author of Zeno’s Eternity, writes that Johnson, “with a true poet’s humility…again and again, in poem after, poem finds meaning.”
B. H. Fairchild, author of An Ordinary Life and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, says “A.R. Johnson brings many talents to the task of poetry – for him, I think, an almost sacred task requiring intimate knowledge of the natural world, flawless, unforgiving memories of the rural lives of past generations, and a poet’s word-hoard of figure and image. Such is what in ancient times confused poetry with magic, and so here it is again in Picture Album.”
Advertisement

Where is it happening?

East Tennessee History Center, 601 S Gay St,Knoxville,TN,United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Union Ave Books

Host or Publisher Union Ave Books

It's more fun with friends. Share with friends

Discover More Events in Knoxville

Appropriations: Remaking Maritime Technologies in the Dutch East India Company World
Fri Nov 22 2024 at 12:00 pm Appropriations: Remaking Maritime Technologies in the Dutch East India Company World

Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts

IT
Girls Night Out
Fri Nov 22 2024 at 01:00 pm Girls Night Out

601 Lamar Street Knoxville, TN, United States, Tennessee 37917

DOG
Rescue Diver
Fri Nov 22 2024 at 03:00 pm Rescue Diver

Alpha Divers

WORKSHOPS TRIPS-ADVENTURES
TerraTeach Parents Night Out: Ratatouille!
Fri Nov 22 2024 at 05:30 pm TerraTeach Parents Night Out: Ratatouille!

1505 Hollywood Rd, Knoxville, TN

KIDS ENTERTAINMENT
Night Inside the Knoxville Zoo
Fri Nov 22 2024 at 06:30 pm Night Inside the Knoxville Zoo

Knoxville Zoo

Battle Cage 360, Knoxville
Fri Nov 22 2024 at 07:00 pm Battle Cage 360, Knoxville

World's Fair Exhibition Hall

ART
Alicia Harvey - solo - Suttree's High Gravity Tavern
Fri Nov 22 2024 at 07:00 pm Alicia Harvey - solo - Suttree's High Gravity Tavern

Suttree's High Gravity Tavern

COUNTRY-MUSIC-FESTIVALS
Michigander in Knoxville
Fri Nov 22 2024 at 07:00 pm Michigander in Knoxville

Barley's Taproom

Loghaven Tour
Wed May 12 2021 at 05:30 pm Loghaven Tour

Loghaven Artist Residency

ART
The Dinner Detective Interactive Mystery Dinner Show
Sat Aug 28 2021 at 06:00 pm The Dinner Detective Interactive Mystery Dinner Show

Hilton Knoxville

ART THEATRE
IBN Biz Lunch - Knoxville South
Tue Jan 03 2023 at 11:30 am IBN Biz Lunch - Knoxville South

Gondolier Pizza

BUSINESS ART
Overcome Dating Anxiety by Mastering Your Mind - Dating Confidence for Men
Mon Apr 24 2023 at 08:00 pm Overcome Dating Anxiety by Mastering Your Mind - Dating Confidence for Men

Knoxville

WORKSHOPS ART
Knoxville Museum of Art: Visitor Registration
Wed Nov 01 2023 at 10:00 am Knoxville Museum of Art: Visitor Registration

Knoxville Museum of Art

ART PARTIES
Integrated Communication Strategy 1 Day Workshop in Knoxville, TN
Fri Jul 26 2024 at 09:00 am Integrated Communication Strategy 1 Day Workshop in Knoxville, TN

For venue details, reach us at [email protected] or call us at +1 469 666 9332

WORKSHOPS ART
Internet Marketing Fundamentals 1 Day Workshop in Knoxville, TN
Mon Aug 12 2024 at 09:00 am Internet Marketing Fundamentals 1 Day Workshop in Knoxville, TN

For venue details, reach us at [email protected] or call us at +1 469 666 9332

WORKSHOPS DIGITAL-MARKETING
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
Mon Aug 26 2024 Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

Knoxville Museum of Art

ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC
The Steel Wheels
Sat Aug 31 2024 The Steel Wheels

The Mill and Mine

ART
Knoxville Jazz Orchestra The Silver Anniversary Concert
Sun Sep 01 2024 Knoxville Jazz Orchestra The Silver Anniversary Concert

Bijou Theatre - Knoxville

MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
McClung Museum 2024-25 Enhanced Homeschool
Mon Sep 02 2024 at 07:00 am McClung Museum 2024-25 Enhanced Homeschool

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture

ART EXHIBITIONS
Inherit The Wind - ASL Interpreted Performance
Sun Sep 08 2024 Inherit The Wind - ASL Interpreted Performance

Clarence Brown Theatre - Mainstage

ART THEATRE

What's Happening Next in Knoxville?

Discover Knoxville Events