Review
“Kephart gives the Schuylkill a voice, a memory, a melancholic sensibility. She has given us a finely-tuned and moving work of art, an exquisite book of loss and wanting. In 76 narrative poems and nearly as many short historical essays, Kephart returns the ‘hidden river’ to its place in our hearts.”
—Context
Book Description
From acclaimed writer Beth Kephart, author of A Slant of Sun, comes a short, imaginative telling of the life of the Schuylkill River, which has served as the source of Philadelphia's water, power, industry, and beauty for the city's entire life. Before that, it fed the indigenous people who preceded William Penn, and has since time immemorial shape our region.
About the Author
Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of five memoirs, including Still Love in Strange Places and the March 2005 Book Sense pick Ghosts in the Garden. She has been nominated for a National Book Award, has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Fellowships in the Arts, and has won the national Speakeasy Poetry Prize. She has written for The New York Times, Washington Post Book World, Chicago Tribune, Salon.com, Philadelphia magazine, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, among other publications, and her essays are frequently anthologized.
