Renny Golden
A Room of One's Own 2717 Atwood Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53704
press release: A Room of One's Own welcomes poet Renny Golden, author of The Music of Her Rivers!
In The Music of Her Rivers, the trope of rivers reveals histories of grievance and witness.Two rivers have accompanied the poet Renny Golden: the Rio Grande’s ancient fidelity to the creatures and first peoples of its watersheds; and the Chicago River that locates the voices of native peoples who loved her first, as well as immigrant and former slave canal-diggers who reversed the river to save a city. These are lyric poems offering historical narratives of those who resisted violent encroachment while also lifting the music of rivers, playing like a cello, above the tumult.
"Her rivers are urgent witnesses, her rivers sing truths, shimmer in the darkness. Here are songs pure as water to nourish and cleanse us in the season of lies. I loved this book."
- Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street
Renny Golden, an activist and co-founder of the Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America, spent time in El Salvador during the war years where she accompanied refugees entering Sanctuary. She has spent time in the Karnes Family Detention Center in Texas and the Artesia Family Detention Center on the NM/Mexico border (before it closed) interviewing Central American mothers and their children. Golden’s Blood Desert: Witnesses 1820-1880 won the 2011 WILLA Literary Award for poetry, was named a Southwest Notable Book of the Year 2012, and was a finalist for the New Mexico Book Award.