Hobble Creek Almanac

Hobble Creek Almanac (Aldrich Press, 2013) is Justin Evans' second book of poetry which focuses on his hometown of Springville Utah.  In this second book, Justin takes a more literal, historic approach of Springville, where he first writes through poetry about the founding of Springville; then moves on to a section of persona poems, written in the voice of a real, life-long resident of the town; and finally takes the reader on a waking tour of Springville through the context of how he perceived the town as he grew over the years.





Praise for Justin Evans and Hobble Creek Review:


HOBBLE CREEK ALMANAC is a love poem to and for a place, a journey through time and memory celebrating the concept of home, history, and historicity.  These are thoughtful, beautifully imaged poems sung by a voice that rings mountain water sparkling clear.  Each poem is a riverstone, smooth and polished, easy to hold in the palm, warm in the pocket, a lodestone for the dark corners of imagination and memory, linked by the gossamer strands of life reflection.
                                       
--- David Lee, author of So Quietly the Earth, Stone Wind Water, and My Town.


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“’First you have to imagine,’ begins Justin Evan’s wily, beguiling collection of poems, and he is up to the task. This is a work of prodigious imagination. Its themes of movement, both inner and outer, searching for spiritual enlightenment, and building for the future or an equivalent semi-permanence, are worked out organically in a heightened language and playfulness that may remind one of Stephen Dunn or Dennis Johnson. ‘Building your allotted portion of Utopia/isn’t easy,’ he reminds us, only to add later, ‘I doubt anything of mine/will last that long.’ Hobble Creek Almanac is the work of a poet coming into his own, stretching his gifts, offering commitment and perceptiveness, and simultaneously extending to the reader a welcome and a warning. Follow me, it says, have faith.” 

 ---Corey Mesler, author of Before the Great Troubling, and Our Locust Years