The title is taken from a poe m in the book which considers the kinder\, gentler exploits of Sheriff And y and Deputy Barney during a time when Southern law enforcement was neithe r universally kind or gentle. Says Trimble\, &ldquo\;Barney had one bullet /and no need for a rope./The only burning he did was for his Thelma Lou.&r dquo\; On her poetic journey\, which takes us from the personal to the pol itical\, Trimble probes our racial divide. She is by turns compassionate a nd fierce\, cutting at our hypocrisy with the knife of her words and willi ng us toward our better common humanity.
\nJacqueline Allen Trimble lives and writes in Montgomery\, Alabama\, where she is a Professor of Eng lish and the chairperson of Languages and Literatures at Alabama State Uni versity. She holds three degrees in English: the B.A. from Huntingdon Coll ege\, and the M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Alabama. She is the cu rrent board president of the Alabama Writers Forum\, and a member of the F . Scott Fitzgerald Museum Board\, serving as chairperson of the literary a rts award committee for high school and college students. She has won seve ral teaching and writing awards\, including the Exemplary Teacher Award (f or junior faculty)\, The Todd Award for Outstanding Teaching (for senior f aculty)\, The Julia Lightfoot Sellers Award (given by the Huntingdon Colle ge junior and senior class to the faculty member who has most inspired the m to learning)\, and The University of Alabama&rsquo\;s Outstanding Disser tation of the Year Award\, for Race\, Gender Culture in Adrienne Kennedy&r squo\;s In One Act\, an analysis of the playwright Adrienne Kennedy&rsquo\ ;s absurd dramas through the lens of feminist/womanist theory.
\nHer research interests include 20th century black women writers\, feminist th eory\, and representations of race and gender in popular culture. She is a lso a poet. Her work has appeared in The Offing\, Blue Lake Review\, The L ouisville Review and The Griot. American Happiness\, her first collection is published by NewSouth Books. The ironically titled book examines Americ a&rsquo\;s refusal to grapple with hard truths\, preferring instead the pr etense that everyone and everything is just fine. Recently awarded a Key W est Literary Seminar scholarship\, she is currently a Cave Canem fellow an d the recipient of a 2017 literary arts fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. American Happiness won the 2016 Balcones Poetry Prize and was named best book of 2016 by the new Seven Sisters Book Awards.
\nBorrow "American Happiness" from PGCMLS from our Catalog.
\nBuy a copy of the book from Loyalty Bookstores at tinyurl.com/PGCMLSLoyalty
\nCo-presen ted with the Prince George's County Human Relations Commission
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