These poems speak from the minds and mouths of Dobbins’s deckhands, river pilots, shanty preachers, and sharecroppers. The poems communicate desire, loss and hurt, and preternatural music in a way that never feels less than caring and genuine. These are lives off-the-record, long lost but striking.
Read the full review in The Tishman Review
An almost ethereal woman, Dobbins recited her poetry in a soft-spoken voice that was interestingly juxtaposed with the various tones of her poetry. Whether it was a calmer portrait of a small Southern town or a scathing poem about biting off another woman’s finger, Dobbins kept her caressing tone with little spurts of emphasis on certain phrases. This way of reciting had the audience straining their ears for more.
Read the full review in The Lawrentian
Christian Gerard and Heather Dobbins have a lot in common. As a married couple, they love dancing, traveling, and working in the yard. They love cooking and nearly every type of music. They are also both professors at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith – Gerard an assistant professor of English, Dobbins an adjunct English professor.
Read the full review in University of Arkansas – Fort Smith News
- “The Sweet Drunk’s Wife” included in a report on KVMR radio about Squaw Valley Community of Writers (the second to last piece in the report).
- “The Sweet Drunk’s Wife” published in Big Muddy
- “Lutey Rose of the Lighthouse” and “Shantyfolk Dance Floor” in Tupelo Quarterly
- “Her Knees, Shaking” published in The Raleigh Review (2014). Print only.
- “The River Ghost Queens” published in The Hawai’i Review (2015). Print only.
- “I Do,” “The Leadsman Sings,” “The Provider,” and “Rabbit Folk” published in The Lascaux Review (2015).
- “Reflections on River Mouth“: published in Easy Street Magazine (2015).
- “The Shanty Preacher’s Fiancee” and “Good Shanty Wife” published in Fjords.
- “God Lets the Calamities Fall on Us as One” and “In Three Days Time” published in Poemeleon.
- “My Woman Won’t Make Me Catfish” and “I Did Not Go Down to the River to Pray” published in Women’s Studies Quarterly. Print only.
- “Cotton Is No Courting Flower” published in The Pinch. Print only.
- “The Pilot’s Career Chooses Him” and “The Callback” published in The Potomac Review.
- “Big Al of the Mississippi” published in pacificREVIEW
Heather Dobbins reading poems from "River Mouth"