The poetry of Jean Janzen: a theological approach

Abstract

This essay explores theological themes and imagery in the recent work of Jean Janzen by considering poems from an as yet unpublished manuscript Tasting the Dust, the first section of which is a collection of poems about the San Joaquin Valley of California. I will focus on three poems from the first section of Tasting the Dust: "Claiming the Dust," "In Tule Fog" and "The Mountain." In these poems Janzen's identity as a San Joaquin Valley poet and as a Mennonite/Anabaptist poet is most visibly intertwined. The experience and geography of the valley become powerful imagery for expressing theological themes from her ethno-religious tradition.