I have known John Cardwell since the late 1980s, when he was doing public policy work in Indiana to help distressed farmers and rural families. He has always had a skill for listening to and articulating the needs of people. For the past decade, he has transferred his skills to storytelling and poetry. John’s writing regarding people and nature is entertaining and beautiful, and always leaves me feeling better.
Carolyn Mugar Cambridge, Massachusetts
If renowned Hoosier author Kurt Vonnegut was indeed regarded as “a philosopher of the prairies”, then John Cardwell should be regarded as Indiana’s “poet of the prairies”. Like the novelist before him, Cardwell’s work always hides a deeper significance as political commentary. His lifelong work as an advocate for workers, the poor, and the disabled can be found in everything he writes -- and Chicory, Poetry of People, Plants, and Places is just one more sterling example from this multi-talented author, who wears his caring for others on his literary sleeves.
Randy Schmidt Fort Wayne, Indiana
If you think of Indiana as cautious politics and corn fields, flat terrain and fried tenderloins, John Cardwell illustrates there is so much more to this state. In essays and, especially, poetry, John gives texture to a state shrugged aside by so many, weaving together its past and present while often yearning for a better future for its citizens.
Mary Beth Schneider Indianapolis, Indiana
John Cardwell’s four books, The Good Road Home, Dances in a West African Night, An Indiana Passage, and From the Tree Top, are refreshing, entertaining, sometimes funny, thought provoking, and always satisfying. Chicory promises to be more of the same. Lori Betancourt Hollywood, Florida
