Farmboy Instruction Manual: Rural Identity in Poetry & Creative Nonfiction
Faculty Sponsor(s)
Joe Wilkins
Location
Ford Hall: Fireside/Lobby
Subject Area
English: Creative Writing
Description
I wanted to tell the history of the farm, as far back as it goes. I wanted to tell the family history, with its divorces, deaths, and drama, including my own. I wanted to incite empathy in the reader for this demographic that America seems to have forgotten: the country poor. I wanted to write about millennials that aren’t living successful lives. I wanted to write a prayer to nature, a dedication to Romanticism. I wanted to really explain this farm mythology and dichotomy: its decaying reality versus its idealistic potential. I wanted to write about failure. I wanted to write about family. But most of all, like the literally hundreds of conversations I’ve had with people, I wanted to reveal my true feelings for the farm and how it changed me, for better or worse, once and for all. That way if someone asked me in the future what farm life is like for me, I could just hand them my book and be done with it.
Recommended Citation
Douglas, Donovan, "Farmboy Instruction Manual: Rural Identity in Poetry & Creative Nonfiction" (2019). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 14.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2019/all/14
Farmboy Instruction Manual: Rural Identity in Poetry & Creative Nonfiction
Ford Hall: Fireside/Lobby
I wanted to tell the history of the farm, as far back as it goes. I wanted to tell the family history, with its divorces, deaths, and drama, including my own. I wanted to incite empathy in the reader for this demographic that America seems to have forgotten: the country poor. I wanted to write about millennials that aren’t living successful lives. I wanted to write a prayer to nature, a dedication to Romanticism. I wanted to really explain this farm mythology and dichotomy: its decaying reality versus its idealistic potential. I wanted to write about failure. I wanted to write about family. But most of all, like the literally hundreds of conversations I’ve had with people, I wanted to reveal my true feelings for the farm and how it changed me, for better or worse, once and for all. That way if someone asked me in the future what farm life is like for me, I could just hand them my book and be done with it.
