Zenyatta/Joanna by Joan Dobbie

Zenyatta/Joanna

by Joan Dobbie

15.99, paper

979-8-88838-166-3

2023

Joanna, the human poet of the two, first discovered Zenyatta on public radio on November 5, 2010, the day before the Breeder’s Choice race that ended her career as a race horse. Curious, Joanna got onto her computer… and the rest is recorded in these poems. Zenyatta herself was born on April 1, 2004. She won her first 19 consecutive races. She was the 2010 Horse of the Year and Champion Older Female in 2008, 2009, 2010 and many other accolades came her way, including being the only non-human in Oprah’s 2010 O Power list. After her final race, and only loss, Zenyatta was retired to Lane’s End breeding farm, where she resides to this day, producing foal after foal. Many of Zenyatta’s fans know her as a beautiful dancer as well as a racer, but few know that she is also a sensitive poet, as you will see in Zenyatta/Joanna. Two Poets: One Equine/One Human

Joan Dobbie has a 1988 MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon. She cohosts the River Road Reading Series (RRRS) presently on Zoom and is very happy when one of her poems finds a home in an anthology or journal or wherever. Her most recent book isThe Language of Stone, Uttered Chaos Press, 2019. And she herself has recently published a wonderful “how to” book on poetry writing, The Poetry Writing Book by Phillip Turchin.  Now Joan is especially happy that her chapbook, Zenyatta/Joanna  is to come out this spring with Finishing Line Press. In 2010 Joan first discovered the magnificent race horse, Zenyatta, on public radio, and this book of poems grew out of that first meeting. It is now racing forward toward the Finishing Line!