Birthing Nation

by Beth Kephart

Description: A square image that looks as if it has been stitched together with various sheer square-shaped pieces of fabric. distinctly in the upper left is a visual of grass growing against a pale blue sky. Overlaying the fabric squares, in typewriter-style text, is the poem "BIRTHING NATION" which is transcribed as follows: Transcript of "BIRTHING NATION": It was the blind nun who had grown old in the house on the hill of your birthing nation who taught you the art of flying free: she at her window, you in the air, woosh*wooshing your heraldic wings. Faith is what the nun couldn't see. Time is the record of our leaving.

National Book Award finalist Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of some forty books in multiple genres, an award-winning teacher of memoir, co-founder of Juncture Workshops, and a fiber artist. Tomorrow Will Bring Sunday’s News: A Philadelphia Story won the 2025 Editor’s Choice Prize from Foreword Indies. My Life in Paper: Adventures in Ephemera was a 2025 finalist for the Pattis Family Foundation Creative Arts Book Award. She pairs words and art at the bestseller Substack The Hush and the Howl. More at bethkephartbooks.com.