Thomas Gardner on Poverty Creek Journal

"The achievement of 'Poverty Creek Journal' is precisely that it does retrace that kind of wandering--and, in so doing, makes something lovely and meaningful of a difficult year. Gardner does not go in for pat analogies; he does not claim, as Camus once did about soccer, that running taught him everything about death. Nor does he go in for pat consolation. His journal does not so much end as stop, as if he has simply not yet risen for the next morning's run." — Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker Thomas Gardner, a literary critic, poet, playwright, and essayist. His accolades run into fellowships from the Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Arts, and Fulbright. He is Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech and lifelong runner. His book Poverty Creek Journal: Lyric Essays was recommended to me by a fellow contemplative shoveler, in Poverty Creek Journal he dips his poetic pen into reflective and lyrical essays on his daily runs, the suffering that touches him, and the literary voices that amplify his thoughts. Visit contemplify.com for shownotes