This is Cathryn Hankla’s first non-fiction book after publishing nine poetry collections and five novels! Cathryn Hankla grew up in Richlands, Virginia, where her father ran a drug store and her mother worked at the public library. Immersed in books as a child, it was natural for her to seek a career as a literature and writing professor. She writes, "Sometimes…I'm most at home in books, writing or reading. I finish one, fold my tipi, and start another." A huge part of her life journey became a search for a true home of her own. This book is her contemplative story of that quest which currently finds her in the Roanoke, Virginia, area where she teaches at Hollins University. “In her graceful, openhearted style, Cathryn Hankla invites us along on her life journey--her far-flung expeditions, spiritual quests, quiet moments of joy, longings, grievous losses, and optimism about tomorrow. This evocative memoir is a stimulating narrative of ideas as Hankla engages readers in questions about gender, race, history, nature, and the meanings of home. One finishes LOST PLACES wanting more, ready to get in her car for another next adventure with this lively, provocative companion.”--Valerie Miner. “Hankla leads readers on a beautiful Magical Mystery Tour of worlds both seen and unseen, personally touching something elemental and eternal in us all--a longing for one's true home. By turns heartbreaking, illuminating, and fiercely brave, Hankla's LOST PLACES is a book to savor and be read slowly, dwelled with and inspired by--a stunning meditation on what it means to be a human shaped by nature and memory.” – James Dodson.
Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2018. 269 pages. Trade paperback