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Poetry of UIS faculty member reviewed in prestigious publication

April 3, 2006

SPRINGFIELD – Nancy Genevieve Perkins, associate professor of English at the University of Illinois at Springfield, is one of seven “contemporary female Midwestern poets of place” profiled in a collection of essays that appears in the recently released Midwestern Miscellany XXXII.

Nancy Genevieve Perkins

“Fighting the Darkness: The Poetry of Nancy Genevieve” is a formal review of her first two books of poetry – NYX: Mother of Light (2001) and NYX: Daughter of Chaos (2002).  Perkins writes poetry under the name Nancy Genevieve. “NYX” refers to the primal Greek creation goddess who was the personification of night.

In the article, reviewer Loren Logsdon observes that for Perkins, writing is a way to “celebrate life’s delicious and precious moments, and a way of connecting with other people… It is a weapon she uses to fight the darkness.” Logsdon concludes that while Perkins does not “underestimate the powers of darkness,” her work nevertheless celebrates those things in life that “enable us to do battle” with it. 

Currently at work on the third volume in the NYX trilogy, Perkins is on leave from UIS and will return in the fall. A member of the UIS English faculty for the past five years, she teaches creative writing, is a past-chair of the program, and directs graduate students’ creative writing theses. She has been the featured artist for Poetry Month at the Vachel Lindsey Home in Springfield and her work has been appeared in a number of magazines and journals.

Mother of Light and Daughter of Chaos are available at the UIS Bookstore and through Barnes and Noble online.