“Church on the Kuskokwim River” is a brilliant poem; intensely personal, yet supremely accessible, the ebb and flow of restraint and revelation…rewards us in ways that linger… [The] poem’s imagery is vivid; its voice and structure spoke to us immediately. [McManus’] ability to extend a metaphor tenderly and unflinchingly is a true gift. [It] will touch the hearts and minds of thousands at a critical time in the history of our species; we look forward to sharing it with the world.
–Sky Island Journal
In Related to Loon, a first-year teacher turns student of life in a remote Alaskan Village. From the very first poem, we recognize Jackie McManus as a skilled storyteller—playful, serious, subtle, respectful, attuned to language and the delicate art of just enough. In the short time it takes to read her finely wrought collection (interwoven with first graders’ marvelous haiku), you’ll arrive and live in a village on the tundra and wonder and won’t want to leave. This little book is an absolute delight.
–Kathleen Flenniken, 2012 Poet Laureate of Washington
In this series of narrative poems, interspersed with children’s haiku, McManus takes readers on an Alaskan adventure, a journey where the narrator recounts stories of teaching native children and her immersion in a culture that is both strange and wonderful. “These are not my words,” … “the words are old,
because the words are sacred, their words the words of ancestors.” These are words that will charm you. These are stories that are warm and full of light.
–Karla Huston, Wisconsin Poet Laureate, 2017-2018, author of A Theory of Lipstick, and Grief Bone
As poignant as they are powerful, Jackie McManus‘s poems explore humility, humanity, and the ever-shrinking distance between the two. Her work is as rooted as an oak tree, as propulsive as a salmon stream, and as breathtaking as the Alaskan landscape of which she writes. Don’t just read her poems, allow them to become a part of you.
–B.J. Hollars, Associate Professor and author of several nonfiction books, most recently Midwestern Strange
Drawing from her experience teaching Yup’ik children on the Alaska tundra, McManus has composed a bittersweet ode about an ancient, isolated village on a collision course with the modern world. At turns, tragic and hopeful, always poignant, her voice is authentic. Related to Loon is a compelling read.
–Dale Brandenburger, author of Grizzly Trade
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