Willis' New Book Of Poems Hits Home

Paul Willis, Westmont professor of English, will read from his new book, “Visiting Home,” at the Wildling Art Museum, 2329 Jonata St., Los Olivos, on Sunday, June 1, at 3 p.m. The event is free, and the book will be available for sale and signing.

“The poems visit many homes, wild and domestic, in my own experience of growing up in Oregon and living now in Santa Barbara,” Willis says. “Along the way they detour through the Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and Santa Barbara backcountry. These are above all, poems of place, and of how we are shaped by place.”

The reading will also feature local poets Lois Klein, Bettina Barrett and Michael Hannon, with Celtic harpist Lorin Grean. A wine and cheese reception follows, sponsored by the Valley Foundation.

Willis also authored “Bright Shoots of Everlastingness: Essays on Faith and the American Wild.” He has published numerous poems in journals such as Poetry, Ascent, Wilderness, and Christian Century. His essays, reviews and short stories have appeared in Books & Culture, River Teeth, Image, and Redwood Coast Review. He has also published two eco-fantasy novels, “No Clock in the Forest” and “The Stolen River.”

“Visiting Home,” Willis’ first full collection of poems, is available from Pecan Grove Press at the Westmont bookstore, Chaucer’s Books and Amazon.com.