Maurice Kenny

Maurice Kenny, Mohawk, is an internationally renowned writer of poetry, fiction, and plays. Maurice's book of poems, Blackrobe: Isaac Jogues, B. March 11, 1607, D. October 18, 1646 was no...

In the Time of the Present

Maurice Kenny

This new collection of poetry from Maurice Kenny explores identity, honors nature, and celebrates everyday life. Modern life is described, while Native American culture is glimpsed, ghost-like, on the margins. Natural bounty-flowers, fruits-is extolled and welcomed. The simplest things-the arrival of the first blueberries or a field of dandelions-are praised with gratitude. Friendships, letters, love lost and found are all treated with reverence and delicacy. Spirituality as a way of life, respect for nature, sharing with others within an extended family, living in the present-these traditional Native values are represented in Kenny's work. These poems are the essence of a Native American way of life.  
 
For the past two decades and more, I have appreciated Maurice Kenny's reverence for the tradition of "contact" in his writing—with the elements as well as the human family. His voice long ago achieved warmth, humility, and indispensable authenticity. And—source of constant wonder for his sensitive readers—he manages to be peripatetic yet rooted.  
 
~ Neil Baldwin,  
author of Legends of the Plumed Serpent 

American Indian Studies Series