Bill Ransom’s Latest Poetry Collection Published

The Woman and the War Baby Weaves Calamity with Renewal to Indicate Poignancy in the Pedestrian and Interpose Serenity amidst Chaotic Circumstance

Bill Ransom has completed a new book of poetry and prose called The Woman and the War Baby. The collection draws upon Ransom’s experiences as a firefighter and advanced life support emergency medical technician during the 1980s and 1990s in the Olympic Peninsula’s Jefferson County, his participation and familial adaptation to the damage caused by warfare, his volunteer work with humanitarian groups in Central America, and his personal mental travels and experience of atmospheres replete with action and implication.

Published by Blue Begonia Press, the book features cover art and images by Evergreen faculty member Joe Feddersen and Ransom’s translations of poetry by faculty member, Zhang Er. Ransom received a grant for the book from the Seattle-based nonprofit arts organization, Artist Trust. The Woman and The War Baby includes poems from his published book, Last Call, and his CD, War Baby. The book is Ransom’s seventh poetry collection.

Ransom, Evergreen’s academic dean of curriculum, has also published numerous other books, including a book of poetry, Finding True North from Copper Canyon Press, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 1973, Ransom founded the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference at Centrum, the arts colony located at Fort Worden State Park. Held each summer, this gathering is renowned for its intensive, weeklong writing workshops, which are taught by notable authors, as well as its readings, panel discussions and social events.

The Evergreen State College is a nationally recognized public liberal arts and sciences college known for its distinctive interdisciplinary curriculum, high level of student/faculty engagement and emphasis on putting learning into action.