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Celebrating the United States Semiquincentennial in 2026, Joseph Bottum’s suite of poems This Far Country highlights four of South Dakota’s quintessential symbols and themes—the meadowlark, chokecherry jelly, the homestead, and the river—in a lyrical distillation of the state’s history and culture.
Turning to the events of 1776, Bottum ties South Dakota to the streams of thought, belief, and practice welling at the country’s founding to form “a swelling moment, a time that history starts to flood,” one that would eventually extend to the prairies and plains of South Dakota, “where liberty found a place.” Jeanne Bowman contributes beautiful woodcut-style illustrations to accompany Bottum's poetry.
Reviews
“Eloquent, exceptional, and beautifully illustrated by the illustrative artistry of Jeanne Bowman, This Far Country . . . is a deftly crafted compendium of four brilliantly presented story poems by Joseph Bottum. Also featuring three pages of notes, this slender and elegant volume will be a treasured addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library American Poetry collections.” — Mary Cowper, Midwest Book Review
"Bottum takes the reader on a fascinating geographical journey beginning in Philadelphia, heading westward to his native South Dakota, and continuing on all the way to the woods of the Great Northwest. Simultaneously, the reader travels the great minds of a litany of philosophers and historians who, collectively, formulate the concept of 'freedom,' which becomes manifest in the American experience." — Larry D. Thomas, Roundup Magazine