Area authors net state book honors

By JULIE BUTASH Bulletin Contributing Writer

Published on February 01, 2008

Two western Massachusetts authors, Martin Espada of Amherst and Elizabeth Winthrop of Williamstown, will receive 2007 honor awards from the Massachusetts Center for the Book, as two of the 12 recipients of the 7th Annual Massachusetts Book Awards on Feb. 7 at the State House in Boston.

Espada, a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, received Poetry Honors, for his eighth collection of poems, "Republic of Poetry" (W.W. Norton, 2006), which includes odes and elegies that give voice to the poor, disenfranchised and those displaced by war.

"It is called the Republic of Poetry' for the reason that it is really about the power of poetry," Espada said. "It's a place for me of collective memory and hidden history. It's a place of redemptive justice and even a place where poets return from the dead."

The first part of the collection is devoted to a cycle of 12 Chilean poems, which reflect the poet's visit to Chile in July of 2004 for the centenary commemoration of the birth of Chilean writer Pablo Neruda. Also included are anti-war poems, as well as poems about the Pioneer Valley.

"I think it is very important for every state to have an organization like the Massachusetts Center for Books," Espada said in a recent phone interview. "We have to keep in mind that this is rather unusual. Not every state has an organization dedicated to books, reading and literacy, like the Massachusetts Center for Books. I'm glad they're out there. It's not always easy these days to be a writer. Writers are often thought of as abstract, gone, dead. The Massachusetts Center reminds us that there are living writers among us; we are not simply in the past tense."

Winthrop received the children's literature honors award for her novel, "Counting on Grace" (Wendy Lamb/Random House, 2006). The novel is based on an iconic image by early 20th-century American photographer and social reformer Lewis Hine. Commissioned by the National Child Labor Committee, Hine's photographs reflected the labor violations within mills and factories throughout the country. Titled "Anemic Little Spinner in North Pownal Cotton Mill, 1910," Hine's photograph depicts a frail 12-year-old girl, dressed in a filthy smock, leaning on an industrial spinning frame in a Vermont cotton mill.

"I couldn't get that little girl's face out of my mind," Winthrop said in a phone interview from her home. "It felt unfair to me that nobody really knew who this child was."

In her novel, she creates a story for the girl she could not ignore. She imagines an entire life for her, from her family to her work in the textile mills. The 12-year-old heroine of the story, Grace, is described by Winthrop as "plucky and tough; she doesn't let the system get her down".

Along with the Massachusetts Honor Book award, "Counting on Grace" has received praise throughout the literary community. In 2007, "Counting on Grace" was selected by the statewide, one-book community reading group "Vermont Reads." As the "Vermont Reads" book selection for last year, over 60 communities in the state read "Counting on Grace."

The Massachusetts Center for the Books, which has offices in Amherst and Boston, annually honors selected works of contemporary writers from Massachusetts, or authors whose work presents themes or topics that are relevant to the state. Awards are given for literary works published in the previous year in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children's literature. The awards program recognizes one award winner and two honors books for each category.