Pawleys Island by John Stupp

Where but in a John Stupp poem, would you encounter a flounder that “walks into a bar and orders a drink,” or the similarities between fishing and jazz, or recognize that a poetic line and a fishing line are sometimes one and the same? Like Bird’s sax or the silky lilt of Oscar Peterson’s piano, Stupp’s poems portray the grit and joy that makes living on this green orb worth it.

–Charlie Brice, author of Flashcuts Out of Chaos (WordTech Editions, 2016)

John Stupp, author of Pawleys Island, is a poet and humorist whose raw-boned, big-hearted poems range from stories of buddies returning from Vietnam, tributes to musicians Earl Hines and Oscar Peterson, remembrances of his own musician’s life on the road, and, among my favorites, poems that deal with fishing. With engaging metaphor, evocative detail and quirky humor, Stupp gives us poetry that is fresh, unpretentious, and just plain fun to read. Enjoy!

–Joan E. Bauer, author of The Almost Sound of Drowning (Main Street Rag, 2008)

John Stupp’s poems are best compared to those of William Stafford: accessibility and heart. His topics include jazz, weather, nature, the American West, urban decay, personal narrative, and, most of all, fishing! Pawleys Island will have a wide readership.

–Michael Wurster, author of The British Detective (Main Street Rag, 2009), The Snake Charmer’s Daughter (ELEMENOPE, 2000) and The Cruelty of the Desert (Cottage Wordsmiths, 1989)

Like an Edward Hopper painting, John Stupp paints images of words in a flawed, and fragile, yet real America. These poems are on a transformative journey. From the slag filled barges on the Ohio River, to a clear blue fishing hole, Stupp shows us that life can be both broken and beautiful. In “The Sea Comes to Murrells Inlet” “herons and egrets are out early/in the water/putting words into buckets/not knowing their lives have changed…” John Stupp’s Pawleys Island is a deeply affecting and haunting collection.

–Robert Walicki, author of A Room Full of Trees (Redbird Press, 2014) and The Almost Sound of Snow Falling (Night Ballet Press, 2016)