GIBSON, Margaret 1944-

PERSONAL: Born February 17, 1944, in Philadelphia, PA; daughter of John Spears (an engineer) and Mattie (a teacher; maiden name, Doyle) Ferguson, married Ross Gibson, August, 27, 1966 (divorced, May, 1974); married David McKain (a poet and teacher), December 27, 1975; stepchildren: Joshua VanKirk McKain, Megan Crawford McKain. Education: Hollins College, B.A., 1966; University of Virginia, M.A., 1967. Politics: "Independent/Democrat." Religion: Zen Buddhist. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, hiking, birdwatching.

ADDRESSES: Home and offıce—152 Watson Rd., Preston, CT 06365.

CAREER: Madison College, Harrisonburg, VA, instructor in English, 1967-68; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, instructor in English, 1968-70; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, assistant professor of English, 1970-75; Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, writer-in-residence, 1984-87; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, instructor in MFA program, 1988-89, 1991; University of Connecticut, Storrs, visiting professor of English, 1993. Writer, 1975—.

MEMBER: Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of America, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Woodrow Wilson fellowship, 1967; Lamont Selection, Academy of American Poets, 1982, for Long Walks in the Afternoon; Melville Kane Award, Poetry Society of America, 1986-87, for Memories of the Future; finalist for National Book Award in Poetry, 1993, for The Vigil; James Boatright Poetry Prize, 1996, for Earth Elegy; Pulitzer Prize nominations for Memories of the Future, Out in the Open, and Earth Elegy.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

Lunes, Some of Us Press, 1972.

On the Cutting Edge, Curbstone Press (Wilimantic, CT), 1975.

(Editor, with others) Landscape and Distance: Contemporary Poets from Virginia, University Press of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA), 1975.

Signs, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1979.

Long Walks in the Afternoon, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1982.

Memories of the Future, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1986.

Out in the Open, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1989.

The Vigil: A Poem in Four Voices, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1993.

Earth Elegy: New and Selected Poems, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1997.

Icon and Evidence, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 2001.

Autumn Grasses, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 2003.

Poetry editor, The New Virginia Review, 1992-98.

SIDELIGHTS: Margaret Gibson is an acclaimed poet whose "concern is to heal humans' relations with the earth as well as each other," declared Patricia Monaghan in Booklist. Describing the poet's work as "religious" in nature, Monaghan went on to clarify that Gibson's faith is not ethereal, but rather "rooted firmly" in the earth. In her poetry, she frequently adopts a persona or speaks in an autobiographical voice. The Vigil is a book-length poem that, in lyrical language, spins a saga of family life in the back woods of Connecticut. Four speakers tell the tale: sisters Sarah and Jennie, their mother, and Sarah's daughter. They have gathered, as they do each year, in order to fire Sarah's pottery in the kiln. At the same time, their alcoholic father lies on his deathbed. The characters do not speak to each other; the poetry is, instead, made up of their interior monologues. Yet there is a great deal of tension as the women argue within themselves and secrets from years past begin to unravel: for example, the drowning death of a brother years before was due to one sister's negligence, and a teenager learns that her "aunt" is really her mother. "Gibson's impressive ability with line and meter contributes greatly to the volume's success," asserted a reviewer for Publishers Weekly. Poetry contributor Linda Gregerson found The Vigil flawed by the poet's reliance on inner monologue, but noted Gibson's ability to write "with eloquent restraint," and concluded: "When she allows herself some indirection and lightness of touch, her angle of vision is fine and new."

Earth Elegy: New and Selected Poems is a collection of Gibson's poems written over a twenty-year period. They are compared by Edward J. Ingebretsen in America to the work of Rainer Maria Rilke. Ingebretsen further commented that Gibson's "voice is clear and understated, but self-possessed," and he noted that "the various rhythms she employs are all variants of a free verse that is nonetheless formally rigorous." Reviewing Earth Elegy for Library Journal, Christine Stenstrom wrote that "these [are] elegantly observed poems, composed with attention to the music of language."

Gibson told CA: "I write in order to be a more intimate witness and participant in my own life and the life of others. Writing helps me to pay attention, to make connections, to see, to translate the silences that surround us and are within us. While many of my poems employ a quasi-autobiographical 'I,' many are also persona poems that explore the dynamics of family and social life. I want to write poems that do not lose the intimacy and energy of a personal voice that is primarily lyric while at the same time being able to take on a larger narrative structure. A poem is a meditation and an action and a sacred text. I live in the woods, rooted in the earth on a daily basis. I have also worked in the Puerto Rican community, and I grew up in the South—and so I am keenly aware of the roots of injustice and suffering. My meditation practices over the years have been a significant influence, in particular, Zen Buddhism."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

America, April 25, 1998, Edward J. Ingebretsen, review of Earth Elegy: New and Selected Poems, p. 26.

Booklist, October 1, 1993, review of The Vigil: A Poem in Four Voices, p. 246; March 1, 1997, Patricia Monaghan, review of Earth Elegy, p. 1106.

Library Journal, March 15, 1997, Christine Stenstrom, review of Earth Elegy, p. 66.

Poetry, Linda Gregerson, February, 1996, review of The Vigil, p. 290; March, 1998, review of Earth Elegy, p. 339.

Prairie Schooner, fall, 1995, review of The Vigil, p. 167.

Publishers Weekly, August 16, 1993, review of The Vigil, p. 98.*