Richard Jackson

Half Lives Petrarchan Poems

Keeping the sonnet structure, these poems vary from "riffs" to loose translations of Petrarch's poems.

" Petrarch is the spark, but Jackson's the one on fire."
-Marvin Bell

"Richard Jackson makes me love Petrarch again, his personifications and conceits, his metaphysics, his profound intelligence, his heart. Here is our first modern poet reinvented. And here is the poet -- Rick Jackson -- with the heart to do it, with sweep and vision."
-Gerald Stern

"Jackson's method might be termed 'appreciations,' in that what he is after is a Petrarch in thrall as much as he is in love, in doubt as often as he is certain -- a Petrarch willing, in other words, to demonstrate, not simply articulate, his longing. Jackson casts the sonnets and canzone in the embracing bear hug of his own style, which means full lines filled with mixtures of image as well as multilevels of energy."
-Stanley Plumly

Selected Works

Poetry Translation
The Last Voyage: Selected Poems of Giovanni Pascoli
Translated with Susan Thomas and Deborah Brown
Poetry
RESONANCE
January 2010, Ashland Poetry Press. Cover by Metka Krasovec, Slovenia.
Greatest Hits
Puddinghouse Chapbook, 2004
Heartwall
Juniper Prize Winning Book from UMass Press, 2000
Half Lives: Petrarchan Poems
Sonnets and a Canzone based on Petrarch's Rime Sparse
Svetovi Narazen
Translations of Jackson's poems into Slovene
Falling Stars
hand sewn and printed, Flagpond Press, 2002
Heart's Bridge
Limited Edition, Aureole Press, 1999, Pterarchan Poems
Alive All Day
Cleveland State University Press, 1992
Worlds Apart
U of Alabama Press Prize Winner
Part of the Story
Grove Press, 1983
Translation of book of poems by Alexsander Persolja
Anthology
The Fire Beneath The Moon
50 Slovene Poets, facing Slovene
Double Vision: Four Slovenian Poets
Aleph Press, Ljubljana, 1993
Interviews
Acts of Mind: Conversations with Contemporary Poets
30 Interviews, U of Alabama Press, 1983 Choice Award
Essays
The Dismantling of Time in Contemporary American Poetry
Philosophical essays on 6 poets, U of Alabama Press, 1987 Agee Award