I Want This World

$19.95

by Margaret Szumowski

I Want This World explores what it means to be human and in danger across many landscapes: the costs of World War II to family-forced labor in Siberia, the Italian Campaign, prison camp in Murmansk, as a hostage in Africa and in the muddied politics in the Rio Grande Valley. We feel the complexity, terror and beauty inherent in each of these domains.

I Want This World is about moments that overcome as well as those that make us shudder, it is also about delight and irresistible love. The poet laughs herself to collapse seeing the roseate spoonbills, the great crater, Ngorogoro, the immigrants’ shrine in the Rio Grande Valley, the way Poles crowd Chopin’s house every Sunday for concerts as if Chopin were still playing his Polonaise.

Margaret Szumowski challenges us to experience the ineffable. Reading about Bronislaw, Czechek, Victor, Christine, and Jan Szumowski, we wonder how to measure ourselves against the previous generation without feeling inadequately endowed with courage. To understand the effect of war on the human spirit, the poet gently brings us to enter the minds of another generation.

by Margaret Szumowski

I Want This World explores what it means to be human and in danger across many landscapes: the costs of World War II to family-forced labor in Siberia, the Italian Campaign, prison camp in Murmansk, as a hostage in Africa and in the muddied politics in the Rio Grande Valley. We feel the complexity, terror and beauty inherent in each of these domains.

I Want This World is about moments that overcome as well as those that make us shudder, it is also about delight and irresistible love. The poet laughs herself to collapse seeing the roseate spoonbills, the great crater, Ngorogoro, the immigrants’ shrine in the Rio Grande Valley, the way Poles crowd Chopin’s house every Sunday for concerts as if Chopin were still playing his Polonaise.

Margaret Szumowski challenges us to experience the ineffable. Reading about Bronislaw, Czechek, Victor, Christine, and Jan Szumowski, we wonder how to measure ourselves against the previous generation without feeling inadequately endowed with courage. To understand the effect of war on the human spirit, the poet gently brings us to enter the minds of another generation.

Buy Now

About the Author

Margaret Szumowski grew up in Winterset, Iowa, the oldest of seven children. She learned to tap dance and twirl a fire baton – An experience that required wrapping the end of the baton in asbestos, dipping it in kerosene, then lighting it and hoping for the best. Twirling with fire and breathing the freezing air at football games led her to poetry.

She graduated from the University of Iowa and shortly thereafter took off for the Peace Corps and served in the Congo and Ethiopia. As a hostage in Uganda, she had the distinction of having her photo taken by Idi Amin – a sort of keepsake for him. Szumowski received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts, and at the end of her orals with Jim Tate, she commented on how much she enjoyed the program. Tate’s response: “Even more than being a hostage of Idi Amin?” accompanied by that great laugh of his.

Margaret Szumowski taught writing for many years at Springfield Technical Community College. Of all her teaching jobs, the community college was her favorite with students from age 16 to 80 and of all ethnic backgrounds. In 1998, she was recognized by the college for leadership and innovation. In 2001, she was honored with the Andrew Scibelli Chair for excellence in teaching. She studied with Marie Howe, Yusef Komunyakaa, Martha Rhodes, Mark Doty, Joshua Weiner, and Agah Shahid Ali at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, one of her favorite places.

Advanced Praise

“These poems are straightforward and accurate, imaginative and bold; they reveal a quest that crosses numerous borders of the mind and the body.” —Yusef Komunyakaa

Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-9710310-2-9