Andover Native Celebrates Launch of Poetry Book

Andover native Kate Hanson Foster will celebrate the release of her first book of poems, titled, Mid Drift on Sunday, May 22 from 2-4 p.m. at UMass Lowell O'Leary Library auditorium, 61 Wilder Street.  

Hanson Foster, who grew up in Andover attended St. Augustine School, then graduated from Andover High School in 1998. She received her BA in English at UMass Lowell in 2003, and gained her MFA in poetry from Bennington College in Vermont, 2008. She now lives in Groton with her husband and son.

According to the author, the poems are set in post-industrial Lowell. She said Mid Drift contains a speaker who is seduced by the "ugliness" of the city including prostitution, alcoholism, homelessness and infidelity. Many poems also explore themes of religion and sprituality and loss of self.

"I don't remember an exact age that I started writing poetry, but I have had a fascination with the power of language and the written word as long as I can remember." Hanson Foster said she was around twelve or thirteen when her mother bought her Ariel by Sylvia Plath. "That book marked a big change for me in how I viewed the power of language," she explained.

Insecure about her writing all through high school, Hanson Foster credits Andover High School teacher, Craig Simpson, now retired, with supporting and encouraging her desire to become an English major.

She explained the compilation of her poems began in 2006 as a requirement for the Bennington Writing Seminars MFA to work toward a book-length manuscript.

"When I started writing poems for the manuscript, I didn't have a clear holistic vision of a book, but fortunately the program forces you to write prolifically, and there are really strict deadlines. It wasn't long before reoccuring themes began to develop such as life living in a mill city like Lowell, as well as the concept of religion and spirituality (reaction to strong Catholic upbringing) and one's sense of self."

Although she finished most of the book in 2008, Hanson Foster spent the last couple of years tweaking and perfecting it. "Once I allowed myself to believe it was finished, it was exhilarating."

She said that choosing Loom Press to publish her manuscript was a "no-brainer". "Not only was most of the book written while I lived in Lowell, but many of the poems are Lowell-inspired.  It just felt right to me." She explained that she has also read many books that they published over the years.

Copies of Mid Drift will be available at the release party. After that it can be purchased on the Loom Press website, Amazon.com and at the following bookstores; Barnes and Noble, UMass Lowell, Andover Bookstore and Yellow Umbrella Books in Chatham, she said.

According to Hanson Foster's blog, Mid Drift has already received positive reviews from poets Major Jackson, Amy Gerstler, Timothy Liu and Michael Burkard.  She also posts upcoming readings and news about her book.