Breath

Poem by Wendell Berry
Woodcut by Margot Voorhies Thompson

As timely as a river
God's timeless life passes
Into this world. It passes
Through bodies, giving life,
And beyond them, giving death. . . .

Wendell Berry "is a novelist, poet, an essayist, a naturalist, and a small farmer. He has embraced the commonplace and has ennobled it" (Charles Hudson in the Georgia Review). The importance of small-scale farming and traditional values of family and community are themes that permeate Wendell Berry's writing. Berry first gained recognition as a poet, but his essays won him a wide readership. The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture became a cornerstone of the environmental movement. He has published more than twenty-five books of poetry and twenty-five books of essays, as well as several fictional works. In all his writings his message is that we must learn to live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the earth if we are to survive. Berry was Professor of English at the University of Kentucky in Lexington for several years; he gave up teaching to practice organic farming full time.

Oregon artist Margot Voorhies Thompson is a printmaker and painter who often uses natural motifs in her work. She has received numerous awards and commissions and is represented by the Laura Russo Gallery in Portland.

Specifications

Edition of 120 press-numbered copies
Signed by the author and the artist
10 x 16.5 inches
Printed on Sekishu white paper
Designed and printed by Sandy Tilcock
Publication Date: November 2000

Out of print

Maintained by: Betsy Kelly, libweavr@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 11/27/2006