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In The Poet & The Architect, Christine Stewart-Nuñez explores how the disciplines we devote our lives to influence how we view the world and, subsequently, interact with each other. If, as Louis Sullivan says in the book's epigraph, an architect must possess "the intuition of a poet," the poet/speaker in this collection must also learn to construct her own body of work "using the material / one has." That material includes the relationship the poet and the architect build from their pasts and the blended family they create and nurture together. "My husband writes shelter," Stewart-Nuñez says, "I architect spells." They are spells she invites us to enter and take shelter in.
-Grace Bauer
About the author
Christine Stewart-Nuñez, South Dakota's poet laureate (2019-2023), is the author of four books of poetry, most recently Untrussed (University of New Mexico Press, 2016) and Bluewords Greening (Terrapin Books, 2016), winner of the 2018 Whirling Prize. In 2019, the South Dakota Council of Teachers of English named her Author of the Year. As a professor at South Dakota State University, Christine's teaching, creative work, and service have earned accolades, including the Dr. April Brooks Woman of Distinction Award (2020) and the Outstanding Experiential Learning Educator Award (2019). She served on the board of directors for the South Dakota State Poetry Society from 2012-2018 and edited its poetry magazine, Pasque Petals, from 2014-2018. She's the founder of the Women Poets Collective, a regional group focused on advancing their writing through peer critique and support. She lives in Brookings with her husband, Brian T. Rex, a professor of architecture, and her two sons.
