Poet and Fairfield University Adjunct Professor Janet Krauss to give poetry reading at Derby Neck Library | Press Releases

Poet and Fairfield University Adjunct Professor Janet Krauss will read poetry from her recently published book "Borrowed Scenery," which contains more than 80 poems, on Saturday, May 1, at 2 p.m. at the Derby Neck Library on 307 Hawthorne Ave in Derby.

Janet Krauss is originally from Boston, Mass. and completed her undergraduate work at Brandeis University. She received her master's from Fairfield University in American Studies, with a focus on American Literature. In 1978 she began teaching at Fairfield University and she also currently teaches at St. Basil College in Stamford. She has also worked as a poetry editor for both the Westport News and the Norwalk News.

Krauss has published poems in a variety of literary magazines including College English, Princeton Spectrum and The Dickinson Review, but "Borrowed Scenery" marks the first time Krauss was solicited by a press company (Yuganta Press) to put together an entire book of her works. "Borrowed Scenery" is a compilation of poems that Krauss has written over a 40-year time span.

The book took almost a year and a half to complete. Krauss was approached to begin the collection of poems in September of 2003 and finished at the end of the year in 2004.

The title of the book comes from a Japanese concept, the shakkei garden, which makes outside scenery part of the garden. As the Japanese would borrow landscapes to incorporate into their gardens, Krauss borrows her ideas from paintings, beaches, clouds and other objects that affect her.

"The muse visits me and brings my inspiration," said Krauss, with a smile, when asked where the ideas of her poems come from. When Krauss gets an idea she will jot it down, and revisit it when she can find the time to mold it into a poem.

Krauss will revise a poem for about a month before deciding it's in its final state. "I don't have a set idea where the poem will end, it's there to evolve," said Krauss.

Krauss's work has received praise from Fairfield faculty members and other fellow writers. "This sense of wonder is her signature," wrote Kim Bridgeford, author of "Undone" and Fairfield University associate professor of English. "It is not surprising that she writes about paintings, for there is a painterly quality to her work, which she creates both through mood and language."

According to Tony Sanders, author of "Partial Eclipse," "Janet Krauss is a far more complex and compelling poet than one might first surmise," he wrote. "The way she weaves art, history, family, nature and politics into an accessible mosaic leaves one spellbound and grateful."

Krauss has given two poetry readings at Fairfield University and one at St. Basil College. Her book is available at Borders Book Store in Fairfield and other locations. It retails for $11.95.

The Derby poetry reading is free and open to the public. For more information contact Janet Krauss at (203) 254-4000, ext. 2816 or (203) 333-7779 or email bkrauss@snet.net .

"On Purple" by Janet Krauss
It is the haze settling over the sky and hills
after councils of a tribe leave the flat stones
where they sat to plan the days ahead -
a girl's initiation dance, a potlatch supper,
a powwow, who should hunt, who should fish.
The low sounds in the distance still echo
the unhurried voices of the elders who know
how to cure the hide of life, how to stretch it,
make it last. The stone seats attest to that,
worn smooth, brushed clean by the wind.