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A Stranger's Heart

Strangers Heart-cover

by Laurence Musgrove

Inspired by Buddhist tradition, these poems explore finding meaning and beauty in the mundane moments of contemporary life. Subjects include dogs, teaching, and the nature of mortality. What makes these poems particularly special is how relatable and accessible they are to contemporary readers.

"San Angelo poet Laurence Musgrove, one of Texas’ favorite poetry teacher-mentors and most generous editors, has made for us an expansive and luminous gift of his most recent collection, A Stranger’s Heart. Texas Poet Laureate Jan Seale calls this collection intoxicating and honest, always 'circling back to hope.' Though Musgrove has published many poems and other collections, the poems in A Stranger’s Heart seem the work of a whole life, reaching back to childhood and spanning much of the biography of 'a man / Who fell into the line of men who / Knew who needed words and when' (74). It has different life stories in it, too – one of a teacher, a dog lover, one of a writer, of a soul who knows 'stars shine because they are crying light' (71)." --Casey L. Ford

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About the Author

Laurence Musgrove

"An ASU faculty member since 2009, Laurence Musgrove served as chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages from 2009-19 and has been the faculty advisor for ASU’s Oasis arts and literary journal since 2016. He has published numerous individual poems, academic articles, short fiction and cartoons in a wide variety of literary journals dating back to 1998. He is also the editor of the Texas Poetry Assignment online poetry journal. Earlier this year, he completed a prestigious Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program in Taiwan. Also a member of the Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers and the National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Expanded Perspectives in Learning, Musgrove earned his Ph.D. in English at the University of Oregon."

(From Musgrove's bio at )