Carol Bachofner

Carol Willette ("Snow Moon")^[1] Bachofner (born 16 January 1947)^[2] is a Native American poet of Abenaki descent. She currently resides in Rockland, Maine. She is the co-founder and editor of the online literary journal, Pulse, established in 1997. She has also published several collections of her own poetry, including Native Moons, Native Days, as well as Drink from Your Own Wells: a guide to richer writing.

Life and career

Bachofner recalls first becoming interested in writing poetry when she was six years old. She graduated from Vermont College with a Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry and has been a professor of college-level English. She was previously a midwife and labor and delivery RN, and a freelance writer.

After becoming a runner-up in the 2006 Main Street Rag Poetry Chapbook Award Contest, Bachofner began to publish her poems. Many have appeared literary journals including Prairie Schooner Journal, Main Street Rag, The Comstock Review, and Naugatuck River Review.

She has been nominated for several literary awards and honors, including Editor of the Year by the Wordcraft Circle of Writers & Storytellers^[3] in 1999 and Writer of the Year for her poetry by that same group in 2000. In 2009, Bachofner was invited to be a presenter of poetry by indigenous writers at the Maine Literary Festival in Camden, Maine. She was also named in the 2009-10 publication of Marquis Who's Who and made the short list (runner up) for individual works of poetry by the Maine Literary Festival in 2011. In April 2012, she was named Rockland, ME Poet Laureate^[4] by the City of Rockland, Maine. She launched her latest collection, Native Moons, Native Days (2012) at the Three Poets Book Launch, hosted by the Camden Public Library. Bachofner's poem, We Speak the White Man's Language, will appear in the anthology, Unraveling the Spreading Cloth of Time, edited by MariJo Moore and Trace A. DeMeyer.

Writing style and themes

Bachofner frequently writes themed collections. I Write In the Greenhouse includes poems about Maine and its people, including Edna St. Vincent Millay and Andrew Wyeth. Her other poems often describe Native American culture and tradition. This is an especially dominant theme in Native Moons, Native Days, where she asks what makes poetry "Indian".

Publications

Poetry Collections

• Daughter of the Ardennes Forest: Poems. Charlotte, NC: Main Street Rag Pub., 2007. Print. ISBN 0-375-76081-4, ISBN 978-1599480640.
• Breakfast at the Brass Compass: poems of Mid Coast Maine. Rockland, ME: Heartsounds, 2009. Print. ISBN 0-8050-6727-2, ISBN 978-1-892266-10-1.
• I Write in the Greenhouse: Poems. Rockland, ME: Front Porch Editions, 2011. Print. ISBN 0-8050-6727-2, ISBN 978-1892266132.
• Native Moons, Native Days: Poems. Greenfield Center, NY: Bowman, 2012. Print. ISBN 0-8050-6727-2, ISBN 978-1105254543

Individual Publications

• All sorts, Amtrak Dawn: Seattle to Vancouver, BC.^[5]
• Nocturne, and: After Your Divorce.^[5]

References

1. Rector, Leta. "Genocide of the mind.". News From Indian Country. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
2. Bachofner's own Facebook page
3. "Wordcraft Circle Awards Announced Honoring Native Writers and Storytellers". Native American Times. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
4. Ernest, Dagney. "Laureates Galore". The Camden Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
5. Prairie Schooner Journal, First Edition, University of Nebraska Press, 2003

External links

• The Comstock Review. Accessed 2013-04-02
• Heartsounds Press. Accessed 2013-04-03
• Main Street Rag Magazine. Accessed 2013-04-02
• Maine State Library Archive. Accessed 2013-04-02
• Dacus, Rachel. Fringe Magazine. Accessed 2013-04-04
• Senier, Siobhan. Indigenous New England Literature. Accessed 2013-03-30
• Rock City Poet Blog. Accessed 2013-04-01
• YouTube. Three Poets Book Launch, Camden Library. Accessed 2013-03-27.