Praise for Telling Tales of Dusk:
“In her poems, Terri Kirby Erickson sketches vivid and appealing word pictures that lodge in the reader’s mind. I rarely see the wildflower Queen Anne’s lace in a field without remembering how she contrasts the plant’s delicate beauty with its common surroundings. It “dandies up a ditch,” she concludes. So true—and thinking about it that way makes me smile.” Judy Lowe, The Christian Science Monitor
“Whether writing about butter mints, the daisy chain of a group of daughters locked arm in arm, or a man burying his dead wife, Terri Kirby Erickson’s poems have the characteristics we all strive for in our poetry. These lyrical narratives are sensuous, tender, evocative, and familiar, bringing to life things we’ve all noticed but lacked the wisdom to put into words.” Scott Owens, Editor of The Wild Goose Poetry Review
“Coupling the candor and aplomb of Olds with the more profound and lyrical of Lux, Terri Kirby Erickson proves an exciting new voice in American poetry. Her subject matter spans the width between a lone Ferris wheel at a county fair, where ‘Coal dust fine and black as pulverized midnight,/covers everything for miles,’ to the vagaries of aging in the face of youth, when the speaker used to jump ‘out of bed, sleek as an otter,/sliding down the day.’ Erickson’s verse is filled with spot-on similes and metaphors, dotting its distinct and lucid structure with apt and artful alliteration, telegraphing image upon finer image to the nexus of who we are.” Jubal Tiner, Editor of The Pisgah Review
“…Telling Tales of Dusk, by North Carolina native, Terri Kirby Erickson… I carry this in my purse to pull out at airports or offices or any place a poem comes in handy. It never fails to deliver…” Sharon Randall, Scripps Howard News Service in Washington, D.C.
This book was #23 on the Poetry Foundation Contemporary Best Sellers List in 2010.
Read syndicated columnist Sharon Randall’s column naming Telling Tales of Dusk as one of “four best reads”: http://sharonrandall.com/?s=telling+tales+of+dusk
Terri Kirby Erickson 
8 responses to “Telling Tales of Dusk”
Terri…..Just went to the site to purchase your most recent book…Loved the last one so much, that I just had to have this one…guess it is too late to have it inscribed. If not, could you please do so for me?!? I am so impressed with your work! Who knew how incredible a writer you would turn out! Your family must be so proud. Hope this finds you feeling better! I have been in remission for quite a few months! Just counting my blessings, and holding my breath to continue this way. Anyways, be sweet, and take care of yourself!
Susan Joyce,RN
RJR-Alumni…
Terri,
You remember the warm, glowing, smile-’till-it-hurts feeling one gets deep in the chest when a child paints, sings, or dances and the thought comes, “This is ~beauty~!”
I’m always struck by the two miracles: One, the creativity of the person. Two, the gift of having such people in one’s life.
I want to buy a copy, signed of course 🙂
Lisa
I recently found about your books and your enthusiam to write poems from an Indian web site “Muse India” which encourages people to write poetry, stories and essays and publish in their site so they get deserved support, and encouragement. Since I found your name I managed to read some of your poems and I must say i am impressed with yoiur lyrical narratives and your tender way of presenting in eloquent words. Keep on writing Terri ! Good luck.
Thanks so much for your lovely comments!
Thank you, Frederick…you are very kind!
guynealwilliams@bellsouth.net
This book is stunning.
“Grandaddy’s Ghost.”
In my version, I reached out to touch the power line and fell out of the tree and landed on my head. I think it’s part of a tryptich called “Three Snakes”; and Katie has shown me how to find where they’ve been stored. It was the day of his funeral. I set my father’s sharkskin suit to float free in an attic we didn’t have.
But I was electrocuted, and — obviously — died. As did the sharks and my papa and pretty much everything else.
(As to the guy who gave me a copy of your book)– That bastard knows what he’s up to, doesn’t he?
GNWms
Hi Terri,
I just read your article on poetry in the Forsyth Women’s magazine and it was Wonderful! Lately it seems that even poets have been saying that poetry is irrelevant nowadays, so it was so refreshing to hear a specific instance of how poetry affected someone’s life in a positive way.
If you ever want to blog for The Basilica Review, we would love to have you =)
Renee
Thanks so much, Renee. I’d love to blog for Basilica Review. Send me an e-mail with more info! T.K.E.