George Ella Lyon Shines in Latest Release ‘Back to the Light’
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 4, 2021) — Acclaimed poet George Ella Lyon’s latest work, “Back to the Light,” is now available from the University Press of Kentucky.
The former Kentucky poet laureate’s brilliant new collection traces the arc of a woman's life from girlhood to mature womanhood. In answer to the first poem, "Little Girl Who Knows Too Much," Lyon embarks on a journey from a child who was silenced to "Some Big Loud Woman" who claims the right to a voice. Along the way she meets allies and guides including Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Mary Travers, Grace Paley, and the giver of dreams. Just as sailors once navigated by the stars, Lyon navigates by these luminaries. They are not distant, though. Their light is always near.
Alternately witty, tender, shocking and visionary, “Back to the Light” reveals the reunion of body and spirit, truth and story. In the process, it demonstrates the power of poetry to liberate and to heal.
Lyon is the award-winning author of more than 50 books for children and adults. Among her poetry collections are “Voices of Justice,” “Many-Storied House,” “She Let Herself Go,” “Voices from the March on Washington” (Cybils Award for Poetry) and “Catalpa” (Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year). Her poem "Where I'm From" is featured in the PBS series “The United States of Poetry” and has become a model for teachers around the world. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
The University Press of Kentucky is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, representing a consortium that includes all of the state universities, six private colleges and two historical societies. The press’s editorial program focuses on the humanities and the social sciences. Offices for the administrative, editorial, production and marketing departments of the press are found at the University of Kentucky, which provides financial support toward operating and publishing expenses.
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