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"A writer from youth and an M.A. graduate in comparative literature from the University of Rochester, German-born Ute Carson published her first prose piece in 1977. Colt Tailing, a 2004 novel, was a finalist for the Peter Taylor Book Award. Carson's story ""The Fall"" won Outrider Press's Grand Prize and appeared in its short story and poetry anthology A Walk through My Garden, 2007. Her second novel In Transit was published in 2008. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and magazines in the US and abroad. Carson's poetry was featured on the televised Spoken Word Showcase 2009, 2010, 2011, Channel Austin. A poetry collection Just a Few Feathers was published in 2011. The poem ""A Tangled Nest of Moments"" placed second in the Eleventh International Poetry Competition 2012. Her chapbook Folding Washing was published in 2013 and her collection of poems My Gift to Life was nominated for the 2015 Pushcart Award Prize. Save the Last Kiss, a novella, was published in 2016. Her poetry collection Reflections was out in 2018. She received the Ovidiu-Bektore Literary Award 2018 from the Anticus Mulicultural Association in Constanta, Romania. In 2018 she was nominated a second time for the Pushcart Award Prize by the Plain View Press. Ute Carson's website is www.utecarson.com. Ute Carson resides in Austin, Texas with her husband. They have three daughters, six grandchildren, a horse and a clowder of cats."
Gypsy Spirit is an extraordinary mix of memoir, history, photography, and poetry-I have never seen anything like it. The book revolves around family, living and dead, rendered in rich and sensuous detail. We meet Carson's German grandparents and parents who are living, dying, and suffering during and after World War II. We meet her husband, children and grandchildren as they are growing up and thriving in contemporary Texas. It is hard to describe the richness, passion, history, suffering and love in Gypsy Spirit. Readers will have to discover for themselves. -Thomas R. Cole, author of No Color is My Kind and Old Man Country: My Search for Meaning Among the Elders Gypsy Spirit is a collection of artfully written stories based on Carson's life experiences. From her family's harrowing escape from eastern Germany in 1945 to her present residence in Austin, Texas, she has chronicled her life through childhood, to motherhood, to grandparenthood. She observes, teaches, researches and reflects on her many interests and explorations. Her writing presents a panoramic picture of perspective and depth enriched with personal reminiscences. Many stories reveal her love and respect for animals, large and small. And her keen sense of her natural surroundings brings a freshness to her work. This book reflects Carson's strong sense of identity, her deep devotion to family and her determination to embrace her life with joy. -Gail Zavelson, teacher, Gainesville, Florida
