Look to Your Left

Her work has been recognized with three residencies at Yaddo, where she has held the Martha Walsh Pulver Residency for a Poet and the Howard Moss Residency in Poetry; a Fundación Valparaíso fellowship to live and work in Spain; a Hawthornden Castle Fellowship, funded by the Heinz Foundation; an artist-in-residence position at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris; six residencies at the American Academy in Rome; two grants from the Whiting Foundation; a Faber Residency in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, which she received on two separate occasions; an artist-in-residence position with the Andorran Ministry of Culture; an artist-in-residence position at the Florence School of Fine Arts; a two-month appointment at Scuola Internazionale de Grafica in Venice; and the Dan Liberthson Prize from the Academy of American Poets, which she received on three separate occasions; among many other awards and honors. Dr. Darling serves as Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press & Tupelo Quarterly. Born and raised in the American Midwest, she now divides her time between the United States and Europe.

"A compelling foray into the life and work of poet philosopher Walter K. Delbridge. From rising star of the civil rights era to outcast 'schizophrenic,' Delbridge reclaims his dignity in poetry and prose, constructing beauty from fragmented structures of oppression. Living a life of relative isolation, he determined to 'steel' his mind through study and creative expression, building inner pathways of resilience that would lead to his recovery and return, on his terms this time. From stargazing poetry to his call for free thinkers to join him in writing the "Book of Ideas," to intimate journal entries dating back to 1982, Delbridge reveals the transformative power of his own experience, inspiring others to join him in the dance. As Delbridge's longtime collaborator Kate Tucker says, "His life, his experience is his great work, so great that it takes a whole choir of voices to sing it." Tucker's voice infuses the book with biographical context and editorial commentary in a subtle duet with Delbridge's own special kind of jazz"