An Indiana Passage: Poems, Stories, and Essays Inspired by the Hoosier State

“A Hoosier farm boy who’s seen the world, a veteran of half a century of advocacy for the downtrodden, a schooled and lyrical writer who nevertheless longs to be “part of the chatter and the living ways beneath the tree,” John Cardwell in his latest books again draws from a deep inner well that is by turns refreshing, cleansing and wakening like a cold slap. An Indiana Passage and From the Tree Top, both collections of poems, fictional stories, autobiography and essays, showcase Indiana in its finest natural splendor and neighborly dignity while refusing to shy away from its historical and continuing failures in human justice and stewardship of creation. His melodious, conversational verse and page-turner prose take us as far as Sudan and the ethereal territory of quarks, returning faithfully to the land of boyhood baseball, wise elders and prehistoric hunters—universe enough, under this painter’s broad yet tapered brush.”

Paperback. 2020, IBJ Custom Publishing. By John Cardwell.