Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia

Jane Merchant

efANE ~ERCHANT (November 1, 1919-January 2, 1972) Jane Hess Merchant, one of four children of Donia Swann Merchant and Clarence Leroy Merchant, was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she lived all her life. Debilitated by a bone disease, Merchant spent her adult life in bed, writing poetry that ranged from humorous reflections to religious meditations . When she became deaf in the final years ofher life, she relied on the written word as her primary means of communication. More than fifteen hundred ofher poems have been published in newspapers and magazines in the United States, Canada, and England. Her talent has been acknowledged by awards from the National League of American Pen Women for The Greatest of These and Blessed Are You. She received the 1961 Lyric Foundation Citation and Award for Outstanding Achievements in Poetry, and the 1965 Beaudoin Gemstone Award for Poetry. OTHER SOURCES TO EXPLORE PRIMARY Poetry: Because It's Here (1970), Every Good Gift (1968), All Daffodils Are Daffi (1967), Petals ofLight (1965), The Mercies ofGod (1963), BlessedAre You (1961), In Green Pastures (1959), Halfway up the Sky (1957), Think about These Things (1956), The Greatest ofThese (1954). SECONDARY Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Vol. 4, 416. Lillian Keller, "Through a Poet's Window," ProgressiveFarmer (April 1952). Publishers Week(y aanuary 24, 1972). Grace Watkins, "The Poetry Merchant," Christian Herald (November 1954). 442 ...