For a discussion of the use of items such as this, see Writing at the Threshold, pages 19-21.

Emily Heistand, the artist who created this painting, happens also to be an exceptionally fine poet and personal essayist. Her books include: Green the Witch Hazel Wood, which received the National Poetry Series Award; The Very Rich Hours, a collection of travel essays; and Angela the Upside Down Girl, "true stories about the wealths of so-called ordinary life."

If you decide to use Hiestand's painting in class–even if you decide to print it out in color, rather in in black and white–please, in fairness to your students and to the artist herself, let your students know that the reproductions you hand to them are, of necessity, diminished versions of the original work.

To go directly to the item itself, click here.

Emily Hiestand has graciously permitted the insertion of two links here, in lieu of copyright fees for the reproduction of her painting. The first of these links is to her essay "Hymn," which received the National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism. Originally published in The Atlantic Monthly, it recounts her participation as a white woman, in an African-American church. It would, among other things, make a very good specimen of personal essay-writing, discussed on pages 41-42 of my book. To arrange copyright permission for its use, contact Allison Monro, Permissions Coordinator at Beacon Press, at (617) 742-2110.

To read Hiestand's "Hymn," click here:
theatlantic.com

To go to a bookseller that carries Hiestand's books, click here:
newtonvillebooks.com