JACKSON, Tenn. — March 2, 2022 — Bobby Rogers, professor of English and writer in residence at 51社区, said an interest in southern labor history in West Tennessee inspired his new book of poetry, 鈥淪hift Work,鈥� that focuses on the influence of economic survival throughout one鈥檚 family history.
As a West Tennessee native, Rogers wanted to help keep his family鈥檚 story alive by writing a collection of poems that highlight the working classes of the upper south. According to the publisher, Rogers composes portraits of small-town dwellers, 鈥渁lways packing their past with them 鈥� an inheritance as ephemeral as vapor, made mostly of memory, even as it was being lived.鈥�
鈥淚 try to convince my students that their lives are worth writing about,鈥� Rogers said.
Serving at Union for over 30 years, Rogers said he is thankful to be at a university that supports creative writing as research. Rogers held a book signing at Union鈥檚 2022 Creative Writing Workshop last month, where he was the featured guest speaker, and presented excerpts of 鈥淪hift Work鈥� to those in attendance.
Rogers has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Charitable Trusts and was named a Witter Bynner Fellow at the Library of Congress. His poems have appeared in such journals as Ploughshares, The Southern Review, The Georgia Review and Image.
Published by LSU Press, one of the nation鈥檚 prestigious scholarly publishers, 鈥淪hift Work鈥� is available at .