This Far Country

Celebrating the United States Semiquincentennial in 2026, Joseph Bottum’s suite of poems This Far Country highlights four of South Dakota’s quintessential symbols and themes—the meadowlark, chokecherry jelly, the homestead, and the river—in a lyrical distillation of the state’s history and culture.

Turning to the events of 1776, Bottum ties South Dakota to the streams of thought, belief, and practice welling at the country’s founding to form “a swelling moment, a time that history starts to flood,” one that would eventually extend to the prairies and plains of South Dakota, “where liberty found a place.” Jeanne Bowman contributes beautiful woodcut-style illustrations to accompany Bottum's poetry.

“Eloquent, exceptional, and beautifully illustrated by the illustrative artistry of Jeanne Bowman, This Far Country . . . is a deftly crafted compendium of four brilliantly presented story poems by Joseph Bottum. Also featuring three pages of notes, this slender and elegant volume will be a treasured addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library American Poetry collections.” — Mary Cowper , Midwest Book Review

"Bottum takes the reader on a fascinating geographical journey beginning in Philadelphia, heading westward to his native South Dakota, and continuing on all the way to the woods of the Great Northwest. Simultaneously, the reader travels the great minds of a litany of philosophers and historians who, collectively, formulate the concept of 'freedom,' which becomes manifest in the American experience." — Larry D. Thomas , Roundup Magazine

A native of South Dakota, Joseph Bottum is one of the nation’s most widely published writers, and author of over a thousand essays, reviews, poems, and short stories. With a Ph.D. in medieval philosophy, he has written four books of poetry. “A poet and critic and essayist with a sideline in history and philosophy,” according to the New York Times , Bottum has twice been the #1 nationally bestselling ebook author. His print books include the sociological study An Anxious Age , and The World Is Awake , for which he shared the Christopher Award for the year’s best children’s book. National Review has called him the “poetic voice” of American commentary who “shaped the minds of a generation,” adding that “his name would be mandatory on any objective short list of America’s public intellectuals.”