Homing In: Attempts on a Life of Poetry and Purpose

Now Available to Order

Essays by Brit Washburn

6 x 9 inches, 244 pages

Publisher: Alexandria Quarterly Press

Pub date: August 15, 2023

The essays in Homing In: Attempts on a Life of Poetry and Purpose are insightful, meditative missives on love, motherhood, solitude and relationship, food, faith, beauty and suffering, set against the backdrop of reading and writing. As both memoir and literary criticism, this collection is a genuine achievement. It is also a valuable resource—for all readers, parents, lovers, livers of life; a reference book, a manual, a survival guide from a mother, wife, woman who has been there before. Any reader who has felt desire or experienced loss, been moved by words, weather, or wanderlust—anyone essentially human—will find something waiting for them, welcoming them, within these pages. —Robbi Jennifer Overbey, author of Endlessly Small (Alexandria Quarterly Press)

“A poet I know recently remarked that we have less to say as we age.  Another poet wrote that, "There are surprisingly few poems about the complexity of long relationships. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that there are fewer poems about long-term relationships and parenting teenage or adult children than I need. Without poems to light the way, a path is even harder to discern and/or invent."  Perhaps we have less to say because we are less inclined to draw conclusions; more reluctant to over-interpret or impose an order where there isn’t any. Perhaps what we can offer by way of lighting the path is simply to describe it, in all of its symphonic complexity: the mile stones and landmarks, the pitfalls, the twists and turns, the creatures lurking in the dark (and in broad daylight), the sun shining, for what it’s worth.”

— from the essay “Wild Things”

Orders for signed copies of this book will be shipped once each week, by Media Mail. Please get in touch if you are in a hurry and we can work out alternative arrangements.

When you check-out, you will also see an option for local pick-up. Brit is happy to make private arrangements if you live in the Asheville, N.C. area.