SOURCE: Jacobsen, Josephine, and A. V. Christie. “A Conversation with Josephine Jacobsen.” Image 23 (summer 1999): 45-61.

In the following interview, Christie appraises Jacobsen's stance on the craft of poetry, her public recognition, and literary accolades.

Josephine Jacobsen's books include nine volumes of poetry, two of criticism, and four collections of short stories. Her honors include the Lenore Marshall Award, a Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets, and the Robert Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America. On the Island: Short Stories was nominated for the PEN-Faulkner award; others of her stories have been included eight times in the O. Henry Prize anthologies. From 1971-1973 she served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position recently renamed Poet Laureate. Her collected poems In the Crevice of Time was a National Book Award finalist and winner of the William Carlos Williams Award in 1995. This conversation between...