Release Date: April 15, 2025
Size: 6.14 x 9.21
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-57869-199-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2025933089
Booksellers and Libraries: Order Info Here or at Ingram.

SYNOPSIS

Welcome to Judevine.

In the 1970s, as a recent arrival to Wolcott, Vermont, writer David Budbill was inspired by his own working-class background to shine a light on the lives of his new neighbors who were, in turns, beautiful, ingenious, struggling, and unseen. These poems became the collection known as Judevine, a raucous, moving, and plain language depiction of a rural community that resonates to this day with its enduring themes of injustice, economic and social struggle, and the indomitable will to survive.

This new and revised edition includes introductions by former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins, world-renowned musician and composer William Parker, and Lost Nation Theater Founding Director Kim Bent. Judevine—arising out of love for a particular place and its people—is an anthem for humanity’s joys, sorrows, and resilience.

Praise

“Judevine is full of loving interest in other people and in…the real world. Budbill both informs and moves and he is, in short, a delight and a comfort.”

—Wendell Berry, award-winning novelist, poet, essayist, and environmental activist

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“Budbill [writes] with rare honesty, affection, and grace—and with language so precise and descriptive you will know immediately you’re soul-deep in something extraordinary.”

—Los Angeles Daily News

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“One of the most readable American poets ever.”

—Booklist

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“Wrenchingly real, fiercely emotional and unexpectedly funny.”

—Chicago Sun Times

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“One of the most original and accessible poets at work today.”

—Howard Frank Mosher (1942-2017), author of A Stranger in the Kingdom and other books

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“Judevine, David Budbill’s tale of an imaginary town in the Northeast Kingdom, is the stuff of Vermont legend.”

—Jim Lowe, Barre-Montpelier Times Argus

reviews & In the News

The World, May 15, 2025: WORLD Calendar for 05/15/25

About the Author

David Budbill (1940-2016) is the author of eight books of poems, seven plays, two novels, a collection of short stories, a picture book for children, and the libretto for an opera. He performed his work in many venues—from schools and prisons in Vermont to performance spaces in New York City—often with William Parker and other musical collaborators. He lived a humble, engaged, and passionate life in the mountains of Northern Vermont for almost fifty years.