In Plena Vita - The Full Life: The Collected Poems - Paperback

by Timothy Russell (Author), Marc Harshman (Introduction by), Jodi Russell (Supplement by)

This is a classic by one of America's finest working-class writers...The Collected Poems brings together his 50 years of writing what is real from the heart with a fine true voice. It is a needed book.

Back Jacket

There is discipline, spirit, no easy optimism, sensibility, heart in these poems. Gary Snyder

To read Adversaria is to be in the presence of a lively and supple and various mind, as tough as it is American. Li Young Lee

Russell, who works at Weirton Steel, knows how to pare language and image down to a crystal moment....The strength and straight-forwardness of these poems makes them some of the best statements on life not only in a steel mill but the small towns that surround it. Marianna Hofer

Author Biography

Timothy Russell (1951-2021) was born and raised in the industrial Ohio Valley. He served in the military as a dog trainer in the early 1970s when he married Jodi (Dolan) Russell. He worked for 22 years at Weirton Steel Company as a millwright and boilermaker while attaining a BA at West Liberty State College and a Master's degree in creative writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He began writing in 1970s and published widely in small literary presses, chapbooks, and in his award-winning Adversaria book in 1993.

He and Jodi parented four children with eight grandchildren while living along the Ohio River in Toronto, Ohio. Despite his recurring and debilitating illnesses and being forced to retire, he wrote prolifically and achieved fame as a working-class, nature, and haiku poet.