Carolyn Adams invites you to explore the secret places of the natural world, carrying with you the fears, wonder, and curiosity of what it means to be human. Layered within the four seasons, the intricacies and beauty of flora and fauna in forests, deserts, oceans, and even one’s own backyard yield deeper insights into our connections with nature. Witness the quiet calm of a forest clearing, but understand what had to happen to put you there. Watch the tumult of crashing waves with a curiosity for the lives under the surface of that sea. Fly through broad skies and feel the air on your skin. Ultimately, stand beside Adams for a moment and “listen to what this place tells you.”
Carolyn Adams emerges as a watchful poet and true acolyte of the natural world. Her blend of subtle music, fine-drawn concision, and delightful open-air observations (hawks are “the B-52s of the bird world”) make this a book to savor.
–Cyrus Cassells, 2021 Texas Poet Laureate
This is a book of poems that gaze through sunlit mist to find rust and honey…broken leaves…a treachery of feathers…mirages…a feral beak…siskin…salt lace…and naked bone. Each poem is a walk, a saunter among small miracles, seen with the clear eye of a bird, a pert witness. In this book, the wild world is your old familiar.
–Kim Stafford, author of Singer Come from Afar
Going Out to Gather is a winding trail through forest-time, vivid colors, and words. This collection of poems is truly a gathering of the senses, taking the reader on a sensory adventure as a celebration of the natural world.
–Emily Cayer, Co-Founder and Managing Editor of Tiny Seed Literary Journal
Going Out to Gather is a poetic exploration of the natural world, and Adams is a worthy guide.
–Lynne Catherine Hewitt, producer, Tales from the Trail, the YouTube poetry challenge
In her extraordinary new collection, Going Out to Gather, Carolyn Adams gives us a wildcrafted basket filled with all the natural world has to offer. Everywhere, Adams’ remarkable powers of attention are evident. And behind the beauty and precision of their descriptions, these poems reveal a restless intelligence at work.
–Pepper Trail, author of Cascade-Siskiyou: Poems, finalist for the Oregon Book Award
Carolyn Adams
originally from Houston, Texas, has lived in Beaverton, Oregon, since 2017. From childhood, her passion has been reading and writing poetry, and as an adult, she has cultivated a love of photography and art. While living in Houston, she was active in the art and literary communities of Houston, Austin, and other parts of Texas for many years, coordinating and performing in numerous readings, festivals, literary events, and art exhibitions. In 2013, she was a finalist for Houston Poet Laureate. She received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from the University of Houston in 2016.
She has been nominated for a Pushcart prize and for Best of the Net. Since her move to Oregon, she has connected with poets in her new home and continues her involvement in the local scene, as well as taking frequent trips into the beautiful natural environment of her new home state. Her poetry, art, and photography have appeared in Caveat Lector, Steam Ticket, Bryant Literary Review, The Weight of Addition: An Anthology of Texas Poetry, Common Ground Review, Beatnik Cowboy, Kansas City Voices, San Pedro River Review, and Cimarron Review, among others. She has assisted in editing and publishing the literary journals Curbside Review, Ardent, Lily Literary Review, Mad Hatters Review, Mojave River Review and VoiceCatcher. Her poetry e-chapbook Beautiful Strangers was published in 2006 by Lily Press, and her art e-chapbook, What Do you See?, published in 2007, is available free of charge from the e-zine Right Hand Pointing. She has also published two chapbooks, An Ocean of Names in 2011, and The Things You’ve Left Behind in 2016.