Peculiar Honors - Softcover

Sharon Cumberland was born in Schenectady, New York. Her peregrinations through universities, jobs, psychotherapy, and an Episcopalian religious order led her to poetry. She has traveled in the United States and abroad, and lived for a time in Rome, Italy where she developed a love of art, architecture, and opera. In New York City she had careers in arts management and education. Currently she is an Associate Professor of English and Director of the Creative Writing Program at Seattle University.

Cumberland, director of the creative writing program at Seattle University, uses deft language and witty imagery to illuminate many of these poems from the reckless innocence of a child who flings her stuffed animal about in "Girl," to the wink-wink observations in "Tacoma Screw" and "On the Burke Gilman Trail." But there's a deeper side, too. As a young woman, Cumberland spent time in a closed religious community, and this cloistered time informs some of her poems, from "Prayer" and "Habit" to the rebellious "Smoke Offering." Most profoundly, this collection is dedicated to the memory of Cumberland's nephew, who died of cancer almost thirty years ago at the age of six. There are several pieces in this book that clang with the dolor and helpless rage of an aunt unable to protect her beloved kin. One poem offers special solace, however. "Vista Point" suggests that we may well find comfort, if not beacons of hope, even when we feel most alone. --Bellingham (Washington) Herald