Jamie Parsley
Encyclopedia
Jamie Parsley is an American poet and Episcopal priest. The author of ten books of poems, in 2004, he was appointed an Associate Poet Laureate for the state of North Dakota by current Poet Laureate Larry Woiwode
.
and raised near Harwood, North Dakota
, Parsley received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Norwich University. He also studied at the School of Theology at Thornloe University in Sudbury, Ontario, St. Joseph’s College, Standish, Maine and received a Master's Degree from Nashotah House
Episcopal Seminary, Nashotah, Wisconsin. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 2004, Parsley has been Priest-in-Charge of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Fargo since 2008 and has served as the Executive Assistant to the Episcopal Bishop of the North Dakota, Michael G. Smith, since 2009.
He has taught Theology, Ethics, Philosophy, Literature and Writing at the University of Mary
's Fargo campus since 2003.
He has been a member of the Society of Catholic Priests
since 2009.
Parsley’s book, Cloud, a book-length poem on the bombing of Hiroshima, published in 1997, has become a minor classic in the genre of World War II literature. In the book Parsley utilized Japanese poetry into the tight narrative of the poem. Cloud has been well-received in Japan, Germany, and France
Parsley's book of collected haiku, no stars, no moon: new and collected haiku, published in 2004, has been described as "a truly unique collection of haiku. The almost 100 three-line poems contained within it are not like haiku you have read before. Abandoning the seventeen-syllable traditional form for the purer "essence" of the poem itself, these haiku are sometimes dark, sometimes harsh, sometimes quick and witty. None of them fail in their ability to move the reader and to test the limits of form or subject."
Parsley’s latest book, Fargo, 1957, published in December 2010, chronicles the 1957 Fargo tornado that struck Fargo, North Dakota
on June 20, 1957. Parsley’s mother’s cousin, Betty Titgen, and her husband, Donald Titgen, died as a result of the tornado. In writing the book, Parsley researched the lives of each victim of the tornado in detail and then presented each in verse.
Dan Nygard writes of Parsley’s work in Fargo, 1957: “part of what makes Fargo, 1957: An Elegy so, well, elegiac, is Parsley’s willingness to present himself and his own obsession honestly—the process of discovering these people and what they have left behind is a story in itself. This appears most poignantly in ‘Ghostly,’ which concludes with this acknowledgement of the beauty behind the questions that are still unanswered: ‘And, like ghosts, we grasp at each other/ across the abyss,/ our voices sounding to the other/ like the first rumble of approaching thunder.’"
Nan Cobbey writes of Fargo, 1957 in the February 2011 issue of Episcopal Journal: “Parsley found a ‘freedom’ in writing about the tragedy and the people who lost their lives by using poetry.”
Parsley, in the same article, is quoted: “I couldn’t have found that with any other type of writing. I was able to sort of give a voice to these people, a voice they were not able to have after fifty-some years.”
Jon Hassler
, author of North of Hope and Staggerford said, “Jamie Parsley’s poems are so evocative, so lonely, so understated, that I admire them very much. One of his best talents is avoiding wordiness—a mistake so common to many poets, in my opinion. The reader feels very comfortable fitting himself into the silences of Jamie’s poems.”
Cid Corman
, the late editor of Origin
magazine and poet, said, “The feeling [in Jamie Parsley's poems] is warm and open and good. . .a good feeling all around. Given his years—notable.”
Larry Woiwode
Larry Alfred Woiwode is an American writer who lives in North Dakota, where he has been the state's Poet Laureate since 1995. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, Gentleman's Quarterly, The Partisan Review and The Paris Review...
.
Biography
Born in Fargo, North DakotaFargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
and raised near Harwood, North Dakota
Harwood, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 607 people, 192 households, and 174 families residing in the city. The population density was 517.9 people per square mile . There were 201 housing units at an average density of 171.5 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 99.01% White, 0.33% from...
, Parsley received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Norwich University. He also studied at the School of Theology at Thornloe University in Sudbury, Ontario, St. Joseph’s College, Standish, Maine and received a Master's Degree from Nashotah House
Nashotah House
Nashotah House is an Anglo-Catholic seminary of the Episcopal Church located in Nashotah, Wisconsin, approximately 30 miles from Milwaukee, in the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee. The seminary opened its doors in 1842 and received its official charter in 1847...
Episcopal Seminary, Nashotah, Wisconsin. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 2004, Parsley has been Priest-in-Charge of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Fargo since 2008 and has served as the Executive Assistant to the Episcopal Bishop of the North Dakota, Michael G. Smith, since 2009.
He has taught Theology, Ethics, Philosophy, Literature and Writing at the University of Mary
University of Mary
The University of Mary is a four year Catholic university near Bismarck, North Dakota.The university is the largest degree granting institution in Bismarck...
's Fargo campus since 2003.
He has been a member of the Society of Catholic Priests
Society of Catholic Priests
The Society of Catholic Priests is a religious society of clergy in the Anglican Communion which draws its membership from Anglicans who consider themselves a part of the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism.-Founding and early history:...
since 2009.
Work
Parsley's first book of poems, Paper Doves, Falling and Other Poems was published in 1992 when he was 22 years old. Over the next eighteen years, he published nine more books of poems.Parsley’s book, Cloud, a book-length poem on the bombing of Hiroshima, published in 1997, has become a minor classic in the genre of World War II literature. In the book Parsley utilized Japanese poetry into the tight narrative of the poem. Cloud has been well-received in Japan, Germany, and France
Parsley's book of collected haiku, no stars, no moon: new and collected haiku, published in 2004, has been described as "a truly unique collection of haiku. The almost 100 three-line poems contained within it are not like haiku you have read before. Abandoning the seventeen-syllable traditional form for the purer "essence" of the poem itself, these haiku are sometimes dark, sometimes harsh, sometimes quick and witty. None of them fail in their ability to move the reader and to test the limits of form or subject."
Parsley’s latest book, Fargo, 1957, published in December 2010, chronicles the 1957 Fargo tornado that struck Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
on June 20, 1957. Parsley’s mother’s cousin, Betty Titgen, and her husband, Donald Titgen, died as a result of the tornado. In writing the book, Parsley researched the lives of each victim of the tornado in detail and then presented each in verse.
Dan Nygard writes of Parsley’s work in Fargo, 1957: “part of what makes Fargo, 1957: An Elegy so, well, elegiac, is Parsley’s willingness to present himself and his own obsession honestly—the process of discovering these people and what they have left behind is a story in itself. This appears most poignantly in ‘Ghostly,’ which concludes with this acknowledgement of the beauty behind the questions that are still unanswered: ‘And, like ghosts, we grasp at each other/ across the abyss,/ our voices sounding to the other/ like the first rumble of approaching thunder.’"
Nan Cobbey writes of Fargo, 1957 in the February 2011 issue of Episcopal Journal: “Parsley found a ‘freedom’ in writing about the tragedy and the people who lost their lives by using poetry.”
Parsley, in the same article, is quoted: “I couldn’t have found that with any other type of writing. I was able to sort of give a voice to these people, a voice they were not able to have after fifty-some years.”
Jon Hassler
Jon Hassler
Jon Hassler was an American writer and teacher known for his novels about small-town life in Minnesota. He held the positions of Regents Professor Emeritus and Writer-in-Residence at St...
, author of North of Hope and Staggerford said, “Jamie Parsley’s poems are so evocative, so lonely, so understated, that I admire them very much. One of his best talents is avoiding wordiness—a mistake so common to many poets, in my opinion. The reader feels very comfortable fitting himself into the silences of Jamie’s poems.”
Cid Corman
Cid Corman
Cid Corman was an American poet, translator and editor, most notably of Origin, who was a key figure in the history of American poetry in the second half of the 20th century.-Early life and writing:...
, the late editor of Origin
Origin (magazine)
Origin magazine, is an American poetry magazine that was founded in 1951 by Cid Corman. The magazine provided an early platform for the work of Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Gary Snyder, Theodore Enslin and other important, ground-breaking poets, who collectively created an alternative to academic...
magazine and poet, said, “The feeling [in Jamie Parsley's poems] is warm and open and good. . .a good feeling all around. Given his years—notable.”
External links
- Official Website
- Official Blog
- http://books.google.com/books?id=Q8BHAAAACAAJ&dq=jamie%20parsley&source=gbs_slider_thumb