Always Near the Edge - Paperback

Jansma, Richard A.: - Richard Jansma grew up in Iowa, always brilliant and active in sports as well as academics. Early on he was afflicted with a serious digestive disorder which distorted his life, but did not prevent him completing high levels of academic achievement. Eventually it prevented him from finishing his Ph.D. at Michigan State University, and other frustrations sent him spiraling into disability and unemployment. However, he continued to write creatively and particularly encouraged other writers who went on to noteworthy publications. One among them, Linda Nemec Foster, attributes her life as a writer, poet and presenter specifically to Richard's encouragement and advice at crucial times in her early development. Richard died at only fifty-three, just as he wrote in the initial poem of this volume, "I was always too young to die."Nemec Foster, Linda: - Linda Nemec Foster has published fourteen collections of poetry, including Bone Country (Cornerstone Press), The Blue Divide, Amber Necklace from Gdansk, and The Lake Michigan Mermaid (2019 Michigan Notable Book), which was created with co-author Anne-Marie Oomen and artist Meridith Ridl. Her work appears in magazines and journals such as The Georgia Review, Nimrod, New American Writing, North American Review, Witness, Verse Daily, and the Best Small Fictions Anthology 2022. She has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and awards from the Arts Foundation of Michigan, National Writer's Voice, Dyer-Ives Foundation, The Poetry Center (NJ), Fish Anthology (Ireland), and the Academy of American Poets. The first Poet Laureate of Grand Rapids, Michigan (2003-2005, Foster is the founder of the Contemporary Writers Series at Aquinas College. For more information see lindanemecfoster.comCarlson, Lauren K.: - Lauren K. Carlson is a poet and spiritual director living in Manistee, Michigan. Her work has recently appeared in Crab Creek Review, Salamander Magazine, Terrain, The Windhover and Waxwing. In 2022 she won the Levis Stipend from Friends of Writers for her manuscript in progress. Her writing has been supported by Tin House, Napa Valley Writers' Conference and Sewanee Writers' Conference. She currently serves as editor for Tinderbox Poetry Journal and holds an MFA in poetry from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. For more information see laurenkcarlson.com.