ASHTABULA — Roger Craik is a living picture of the saying, “You can take the boy out of England, but you can’t take England out of the boy.”
Craik, associate professor of English at Kent State University- Ashtabula, recently published his sixth poetry book, titled “Of England Still.” The publisher is Finishing Line Press of Georgetown, Ky., which is the country’s leading publisher of chapbooks: poetry books of fewer than 30 pages, according to a press release.
“The poems are all different from each other and are representative of different time periods of my life growing up in England, from the perspective of having lived here in Ashtabula since 1991,” Craik said.
Craik’s favorite poem in the collection is titled “On Oxshott Heath” and is a recollection of being with his grandfather when he was 15 years old.
“This one is my favorite because it’s the most experimental. It is about my impatience at the time, and the kind of language it uses and the length of the lines are unusual,” he said. “But I feel it is important to be daring with one’s writing, at times.”
Craik admits that not every poem is autobiographical and the final poem is written as if his father were dead, but in fact, his father and mother are very much alive and well.
“Both of my parents are retired English professors, and they understand about these things and are very pleased with my poetry,” he said.
The cover of “Of England Still” is a picture of Craik’s birth certificate when he was born in England in 1956.
“I felt this idea was more unusual than a family photo, and my birth certificate would not root the book to a particular time period,” he said.
Craik is particularly grateful to his friends John Mahan, former KSUA dean, and Harry Izenour, emeritus professor, for their encouragement of his poetical pursuits.
Craik has written three full-length poetry books, among them the more recent “Those Years,” published in 2007, was translated into Bulgarian in 2009 and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Craik traveled in March to Sofia, Bulgaria, where he had worked as a Fulbright Scholar to launch the translation.
“Writing is important because it is something that belongs entirely to you,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s good; the important thing is that you made it.”
“Of England Still” is available for purchase on Amazon.com.
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‘Of England Still,’ a new collection of poems by Craik
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