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Media/Press
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9/14/23:
I got 4 minutes on live TV this afternoon to talk about The Field House! I hope the nervous shaking didn't show.
https://www.wabi.tv/2023/09/14/author-robin-wood-discusses-biography-memoir-hybrid-field-house/
September 2023:
Here's a quirky little surprise that came my way on Facebook, because I was tagged in the post. It is the inaugural episode of a new podcast called "Triple Treat Book Chat," hosted by Tamar Zhghenti and Martina Nicolls. The Field House is the third of this episode's three books, all featuring islands. There are some errors (my husband is still very much alive!), but it is a charming and unexpected tribute to The Field House.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X17yZx1XMuI
Maine Literary Award winner interview! Watch this 9-minute clip, beautifully edited by Phoebe Little at Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7FSqUcdCOk
An interview with the inimitable Karen E. Osborne:
https://www.kareneosborne.com/post/what-are-you-reading-what-are-you-writing-with-robin-clifford-wood?fbclid=IwAR2YE1oTwWsU-yaaiu4ZiA4q-LRdfykZ4_vCu-7fIW9rV8QwY3-eBNTQ92o
NEW BOOK REVIEW - SUMMER 2022!!
This gorgeous piece of writing is worth reading even if it wasn't a lovely review of The Field House. Hats off and a big thank you to writer Sarah Baldwin:
https://atticusreview.org/wood-and-field/
Christina Baker Kline did me the honor of joining me for my online book launch on May 4th, 2021. To celebrate The Field House's upcoming 1st book birthday, I am reposting the link to the conversation and celebration on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTJdUtg26mU
BIG NEWS FOR THE BOOK!!
The Field House was awarded a GOLD MEDAL in the 2021 Readers' Favorite Awards. Here is the award and the review:
https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-field-house
The Field House was awarded a "finalist" honor in American Book Fest's 18th annual Best Book Awards! http://www.americanbookfest.com/2021bbapressrelease.html?fbclid=IwAR1C_f-mr0VPlGKHqBiKNIIrcvalj2FiHgsXgSeioQl3mYbYAq-DDKZnO7Q
I got 4 minutes on live TV this afternoon to talk about The Field House! I hope the nervous shaking didn't show.
https://www.wabi.tv/2023/09/14/author-robin-wood-discusses-biography-memoir-hybrid-field-house/
September 2023:
Here's a quirky little surprise that came my way on Facebook, because I was tagged in the post. It is the inaugural episode of a new podcast called "Triple Treat Book Chat," hosted by Tamar Zhghenti and Martina Nicolls. The Field House is the third of this episode's three books, all featuring islands. There are some errors (my husband is still very much alive!), but it is a charming and unexpected tribute to The Field House.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X17yZx1XMuI
Maine Literary Award winner interview! Watch this 9-minute clip, beautifully edited by Phoebe Little at Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7FSqUcdCOk
An interview with the inimitable Karen E. Osborne:
https://www.kareneosborne.com/post/what-are-you-reading-what-are-you-writing-with-robin-clifford-wood?fbclid=IwAR2YE1oTwWsU-yaaiu4ZiA4q-LRdfykZ4_vCu-7fIW9rV8QwY3-eBNTQ92o
NEW BOOK REVIEW - SUMMER 2022!!
This gorgeous piece of writing is worth reading even if it wasn't a lovely review of The Field House. Hats off and a big thank you to writer Sarah Baldwin:
https://atticusreview.org/wood-and-field/
Christina Baker Kline did me the honor of joining me for my online book launch on May 4th, 2021. To celebrate The Field House's upcoming 1st book birthday, I am reposting the link to the conversation and celebration on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTJdUtg26mU
BIG NEWS FOR THE BOOK!!
The Field House was awarded a GOLD MEDAL in the 2021 Readers' Favorite Awards. Here is the award and the review:
https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-field-house
The Field House was awarded a "finalist" honor in American Book Fest's 18th annual Best Book Awards! http://www.americanbookfest.com/2021bbapressrelease.html?fbclid=IwAR1C_f-mr0VPlGKHqBiKNIIrcvalj2FiHgsXgSeioQl3mYbYAq-DDKZnO7Q
#1 favorite book review to date! (from May 11, 2021)
Many thanks to an excellent writer - Allen Adams of The Maine Edge.
https://www.themaineedge.com/style/the-field-house-a-writers-life-lost-and-found-on-an-island-in-maine
Here's a great review from the November 2021 issue of Maine Seniors Magazine, by Anne Gabianelli:
https://www.meseniors.com/2021/11/15/kindred-spirits-the-field-house-connection/
One of my favorite reviews so far came out in the Portland Press Herald in October, 2021. Take a look!
https://www.pressherald.com/2021/10/24/in-an-unusually-told-biography-writer-rachel-field-lives-again/?fbclid=IwAR1tjx5CdinIEgjjzmF2A85Ih08aJ7oS_ha0CcVROasHmZ5n85jKMm0zFsg
The Field House got a 4 of 4 stars rating from onlinebookclub.org in November, 2021. See the review here:
https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?p=1792399&fbclid=IwAR389Q-1eyI7V_jOpCIR5w6-6uKpxw-2Y-MqzOgxVTOH2aiLbp6MCNQIn04#p1792399
This podcast interview with "Writers' Voices" just went live today, Aug. 2, 2021:
https://writersvoices.com/podcasts/memoir/robin-clifford-wood/
Great TV spot on the 207 news show!
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/207/maine-writer-rachel-field-once-had-fame-acclaim-and-fortune-now-shes-all-but-forgotten/97-02ed81c0-e2b5-44b0-8f4e-1046e8e9f2aa
Many thanks to an excellent writer - Allen Adams of The Maine Edge.
https://www.themaineedge.com/style/the-field-house-a-writers-life-lost-and-found-on-an-island-in-maine
Here's a great review from the November 2021 issue of Maine Seniors Magazine, by Anne Gabianelli:
https://www.meseniors.com/2021/11/15/kindred-spirits-the-field-house-connection/
One of my favorite reviews so far came out in the Portland Press Herald in October, 2021. Take a look!
https://www.pressherald.com/2021/10/24/in-an-unusually-told-biography-writer-rachel-field-lives-again/?fbclid=IwAR1tjx5CdinIEgjjzmF2A85Ih08aJ7oS_ha0CcVROasHmZ5n85jKMm0zFsg
The Field House got a 4 of 4 stars rating from onlinebookclub.org in November, 2021. See the review here:
https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?p=1792399&fbclid=IwAR389Q-1eyI7V_jOpCIR5w6-6uKpxw-2Y-MqzOgxVTOH2aiLbp6MCNQIn04#p1792399
This podcast interview with "Writers' Voices" just went live today, Aug. 2, 2021:
https://writersvoices.com/podcasts/memoir/robin-clifford-wood/
Great TV spot on the 207 news show!
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/207/maine-writer-rachel-field-once-had-fame-acclaim-and-fortune-now-shes-all-but-forgotten/97-02ed81c0-e2b5-44b0-8f4e-1046e8e9f2aa
Rachel Field inspired these two essay contributions, published on the delightful Literary Ladies Guide website:
https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author/robin-clifford-wood/
Thanks to Story Circle Network for this wonderful review:
https://www.storycircle.org/book_review/the-field-house-a-writers-life-lost-and-found-on-an-island-in-maine/?fbclid=IwAR0zN0f5URhMG-wPAM0_k6S89_yaTtPu_2qEoyTYbFHXkEJONEYbo0rwxtg
Here is a recording of the June 3rd event sponsored by Jesup Library in Bar Harbor, Maine: https://vimeo.com/559044341
...and another recorded interview here, from my talk hosted by Camden Public Library on June 15th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ6nJsY_1IA
https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author/robin-clifford-wood/
Thanks to Story Circle Network for this wonderful review:
https://www.storycircle.org/book_review/the-field-house-a-writers-life-lost-and-found-on-an-island-in-maine/?fbclid=IwAR0zN0f5URhMG-wPAM0_k6S89_yaTtPu_2qEoyTYbFHXkEJONEYbo0rwxtg
Here is a recording of the June 3rd event sponsored by Jesup Library in Bar Harbor, Maine: https://vimeo.com/559044341
...and another recorded interview here, from my talk hosted by Camden Public Library on June 15th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ6nJsY_1IA
Here's an essay I wrote about my often uncanny connections with Rachel Field. Published in May, 2021 by Women Writers, Women's Books. Hope you enjoy, "Heeding the Call of a Mentor From the Past."
http://booksbywomen.org/heeding-the-call-of-a-mentor-from-the-past/
In this May, 2021 article for Book Babble, "Looking to Find Your Voice? Let the Story Lead You," I talk about the importance of mentors in a writer's life, and about the search for voice and genre. Rachel Field's story went through an arduous evolution from biography to biography-memoir hybrid, painstaking, but ultimately triumphant.
https://bookclubbabble.com/looking-to-find-your-voice-let-the-story-lead-you-guest-post-by-robin-clifford-wood/
http://booksbywomen.org/heeding-the-call-of-a-mentor-from-the-past/
In this May, 2021 article for Book Babble, "Looking to Find Your Voice? Let the Story Lead You," I talk about the importance of mentors in a writer's life, and about the search for voice and genre. Rachel Field's story went through an arduous evolution from biography to biography-memoir hybrid, painstaking, but ultimately triumphant.
https://bookclubbabble.com/looking-to-find-your-voice-let-the-story-lead-you-guest-post-by-robin-clifford-wood/
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Down East Magazine's May, 2021 issue (p. 123) has a wonderful column about Rachel Field and The Field House: A Writer's Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine, wonderfully written by Sarah Stebbins. Check it out here: https://mainehomes.com/rachel-field-sutton-island-home/
Bangor Metro's May, 2021 issue includes an interview with me by Kaylie Reese. She did an excellent job!
***WOW***
Check out the February 15, 2021 issue of Kirkus Reviews! They tell me that only 10% of Indie authors are selected to be highlighted in their magazine, and I guess I made the cut. Look for The Field House on page 168!
May 5, 2021 -- Bangor Daily News published this opinion piece about volunteering in the vaccination clinic in the midst of the covid pandemic:
https://bangordailynews.com/2021/05/04/opinion/contributors/good-morning-save-some-lives/
some early praise for Wood's book:
"[Wood's] passionate prose and carefully curated primary sources will certainly convince readers that Field is not a writer to overlook.
An eloquent, detailed tribute to a less well-known but inspiring author."
-- Kirkus Reviews
“I just finished this lovely book and feel richer for it. Meticulously researched and deeply felt, THE FIELD HOUSE is a compelling hybrid of biography and memoir. An exploration of the life and legacy of novelist-poet Rachel Field, it is interwoven with personal reflections that reveal the influence of Field’s work ethic and passion on the biographer’s life. This book is also a meditation on the nature of creativity and a love letter to a house on Sutton Island in Maine once owned by Field and now by Wood. For both writers, the house became a touchstone and a haven, a place to reflect and rejuvenate and create.”
- #1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train, The Exiles, and A Piece of the World.
"Robin Clifford Wood has combined immense archival material and keen insights to create a detailed and enchanting biography of Rachel Field. The author's skillful use of granular sources, paired with her sophisticated wordsmithing, has produced a book that is both informative and lyrical. Readers will also appreciate the author's parallel discussion of the writing process itself - an articulate discussion that will undoubtedly seem familiar to anyone who has ever struggled to discover and tell a story.
This is a delight to read."
Historian Jacalyn Eddy, author of Bookwomen: Creating an Empire in Children's Book Publishing, 1919-1939.
"This elegant hybrid of biography and memoir introduced me to Rachel Field and Robin Clifford Wood, whose lives, separated by generations, uncannily twine. Compelling, instructive, inspiring, and beautifully written. I was greatly moved."
--Monica Wood, award-winning author of The One-in-a-million Boy, When We Were the Kennedys, and Any Bitter Thing.
I highly recommend Robin Clifford Wood’s enchanting The Field House, her intensely personal reckoning with the life and work of the nearly forgotten author Rachel Field. Famous in her lifetime for bestselling novels for adults and children, winner of Newbery and National Book Awards, Field lived less than half a century but left plenty of evidence for her biographer to explore—in archives across the country, and in the Maine island cottage they both called home in a curious twist of fate that enabled this charming and heartfelt narrative.
- Pulitzer Prize-winner Megan Marshall, author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast.
This fascinating book about the life of Newbery Medal-winning author Rachel Field lives at the intersection of seamless research and rich personal reflection. Robin Clifford Wood offers such insightful, knowing details about Field’s writing life and her personal attachment to Maine, that we come to feel we are reading the account of a close friend. Wonderfully executed, The Field House renders Field's extraordinary life with great empathy and beautiful, lucid prose.
--Critically acclaimed author Susan Conley, author of Landslide, Elsey Come Home, The Foremost Good Fortune, and Paris Was the Place.
"This wonderful book--based on meticulously thorough, devoted research--is a lovingly tender, wise, and judicious account of Rachel Field and her world. Its unusual blend of memoir and biography helps to illuminate the life, even as a poignant dialogue between the author and her subject unfolds. Truly, a tour-de-force!"
--Benson Bobrick, award-winning author of Angel in the Whirlwind and Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution it Inspired.
The Field House lures readers to ‘a long-abandoned, wood-framed house on an island off the coast of Maine.’ When author Robin Clifford Wood buys a summer cottage belonging to famed poet and award-winning author Rachel Field, Wood is haunted by Field’s sudden death, her untold stories. Discovering treasures and clues Field left behind, Wood weaves a stunning and intimate portrait of a once-prized American writer and poet who deserves to be remembered.
- Pulitzer-Prizing winning writer Barbara Walsh, author of August Gale: A Father and Daughter’s Journey into the Storm and Sammy in the Sky
"Robin Clifford Wood's biography of Rachel Field is a beautiful and thorough history of an artist and writer with important connections to Maine. In THE FIELD HOUSE, Wood doesn't back away from the complexity of Field's life: self-doubt, aspirations, flaws, triumphs, unrequited loves, and final losses. And yet, this book is also a clear-eyed survey of the literary world of the 1920s and 30s, Maine island life, and a woman who, transcending gender roles and notions of physical beauty, offered the world a gift that, because of Wood's deeply personal book, will hopefully never be forgotten.”
- Jaed Coffin, author of Roughhouse Friday and A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants
Bangor Metro's May, 2021 issue includes an interview with me by Kaylie Reese. She did an excellent job!
***WOW***
Check out the February 15, 2021 issue of Kirkus Reviews! They tell me that only 10% of Indie authors are selected to be highlighted in their magazine, and I guess I made the cut. Look for The Field House on page 168!
May 5, 2021 -- Bangor Daily News published this opinion piece about volunteering in the vaccination clinic in the midst of the covid pandemic:
https://bangordailynews.com/2021/05/04/opinion/contributors/good-morning-save-some-lives/
some early praise for Wood's book:
"[Wood's] passionate prose and carefully curated primary sources will certainly convince readers that Field is not a writer to overlook.
An eloquent, detailed tribute to a less well-known but inspiring author."
-- Kirkus Reviews
“I just finished this lovely book and feel richer for it. Meticulously researched and deeply felt, THE FIELD HOUSE is a compelling hybrid of biography and memoir. An exploration of the life and legacy of novelist-poet Rachel Field, it is interwoven with personal reflections that reveal the influence of Field’s work ethic and passion on the biographer’s life. This book is also a meditation on the nature of creativity and a love letter to a house on Sutton Island in Maine once owned by Field and now by Wood. For both writers, the house became a touchstone and a haven, a place to reflect and rejuvenate and create.”
- #1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train, The Exiles, and A Piece of the World.
"Robin Clifford Wood has combined immense archival material and keen insights to create a detailed and enchanting biography of Rachel Field. The author's skillful use of granular sources, paired with her sophisticated wordsmithing, has produced a book that is both informative and lyrical. Readers will also appreciate the author's parallel discussion of the writing process itself - an articulate discussion that will undoubtedly seem familiar to anyone who has ever struggled to discover and tell a story.
This is a delight to read."
Historian Jacalyn Eddy, author of Bookwomen: Creating an Empire in Children's Book Publishing, 1919-1939.
"This elegant hybrid of biography and memoir introduced me to Rachel Field and Robin Clifford Wood, whose lives, separated by generations, uncannily twine. Compelling, instructive, inspiring, and beautifully written. I was greatly moved."
--Monica Wood, award-winning author of The One-in-a-million Boy, When We Were the Kennedys, and Any Bitter Thing.
I highly recommend Robin Clifford Wood’s enchanting The Field House, her intensely personal reckoning with the life and work of the nearly forgotten author Rachel Field. Famous in her lifetime for bestselling novels for adults and children, winner of Newbery and National Book Awards, Field lived less than half a century but left plenty of evidence for her biographer to explore—in archives across the country, and in the Maine island cottage they both called home in a curious twist of fate that enabled this charming and heartfelt narrative.
- Pulitzer Prize-winner Megan Marshall, author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast.
This fascinating book about the life of Newbery Medal-winning author Rachel Field lives at the intersection of seamless research and rich personal reflection. Robin Clifford Wood offers such insightful, knowing details about Field’s writing life and her personal attachment to Maine, that we come to feel we are reading the account of a close friend. Wonderfully executed, The Field House renders Field's extraordinary life with great empathy and beautiful, lucid prose.
--Critically acclaimed author Susan Conley, author of Landslide, Elsey Come Home, The Foremost Good Fortune, and Paris Was the Place.
"This wonderful book--based on meticulously thorough, devoted research--is a lovingly tender, wise, and judicious account of Rachel Field and her world. Its unusual blend of memoir and biography helps to illuminate the life, even as a poignant dialogue between the author and her subject unfolds. Truly, a tour-de-force!"
--Benson Bobrick, award-winning author of Angel in the Whirlwind and Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution it Inspired.
The Field House lures readers to ‘a long-abandoned, wood-framed house on an island off the coast of Maine.’ When author Robin Clifford Wood buys a summer cottage belonging to famed poet and award-winning author Rachel Field, Wood is haunted by Field’s sudden death, her untold stories. Discovering treasures and clues Field left behind, Wood weaves a stunning and intimate portrait of a once-prized American writer and poet who deserves to be remembered.
- Pulitzer-Prizing winning writer Barbara Walsh, author of August Gale: A Father and Daughter’s Journey into the Storm and Sammy in the Sky
"Robin Clifford Wood's biography of Rachel Field is a beautiful and thorough history of an artist and writer with important connections to Maine. In THE FIELD HOUSE, Wood doesn't back away from the complexity of Field's life: self-doubt, aspirations, flaws, triumphs, unrequited loves, and final losses. And yet, this book is also a clear-eyed survey of the literary world of the 1920s and 30s, Maine island life, and a woman who, transcending gender roles and notions of physical beauty, offered the world a gift that, because of Wood's deeply personal book, will hopefully never be forgotten.”
- Jaed Coffin, author of Roughhouse Friday and A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants
Fall 2020:
I've got news! First, my poem about Mother's Day in the time of Covid won a second place in the Writer's Digest Annual Competition - one of 500 entries in the rhyming poetry category! I was floating on air for weeks after that.
Second, I was commissioned by Bangor, Maine's Penobscot Theatre Company to write a ghost story for their audio ghost tales show that opens on October 15, 2020. Please check out their website and get tickets, either to the one show or the whole season. Live theatre needs your help to stay alive in this crazy time. Watch for "The Ballad of Hadlock, the Seal Hunter Showman."
April 2019: My essay, "How Do You Help Your Parents Die," has just gone live on Solstice Literary Magazine's website. Author Richard Hoffman, the non-fiction editor for this edition writes this about the essay:
"I doubt you will ever read a more heartbreaking and also enlightening essay about the ways we must negotiate and navigate the final care of our loved ones than Robin Wood’s aptly titled, “How Do You Help Your Parents Die?” in which she addresses every layer of that tear-stained, manifold question."
https://solsticelitmag.org/content/how-do-you-help-your-parents-die/
Here is my Rachel Field inspired essay for Maine Public Radio's series, "Music That Moves Me."
https://www.mainepublic.org/post/robin-clifford-wood-hampden
September 2018
Check out the Bangor Daily News special section for Sep. 21, 2018, "Maine Outdoors and Adventure." My article about hiking the Moosehead Lake Region is the cover story, with lots of great photos inside! Here is the link:
https://issuu.com/bdnsections/docs/outdoors_fall2018_proof2 --
the article begins on pages 4-5.
August 2018
Here is a poem about getting old. It was inspired during a recent trip to Oxford, England, where "old" means something far more ancient than we Americans associate with the word. See this link, and turn to page 2! https://issuu.com/bdnsections/docs/seniorliving_fall2018_fnl
March 2018
I had no idea, when I submitted a poem about Guster to the Bangor Daily News in January, that my dear old doggie friend would be gone by the time it was published. It works well as a tribute, and I loved seeing his photo in the paper.
http://bangordailynews.com/2018/04/06/special-sections/hound-advice-a-poem/
In the same issue of the BDN was this story highlighting the wonders of Maine Huts and Trails. What a win-win situation it is when you can do what you love and write about it!
http://bangordailynews.com/2018/04/06/special-sections/happy-trails-a-maine-huts-trails-excursion-offers-a-uniquely-maine-experience/
November 2017
I had a great time looking back through my five years' worth of columns to gather material for this latest story - a Maine bucket list inspired by Maine's people. Take a look at page 14 in this Bangor Daily News special section: https://issuu.com/bdnsections/docs/proof
August 2017
"Going South," an original poem, appeared in the Bangor Daily News on Aug. 25th, as part of a special section for seniors. Here is a link: http://bangordailynews.com/2017/08/25/special-sections/going-south-a-poem/
To browse five years of columns about people and places in Maine, go to: http://bangordailynews.com/author/robin-clifford-wood/
To read the original column that led to the full-length memoir, My Mother's Choice: An End of Life Story, go to: http://bangordailynews.com/2014/03/25/living/my-mothers-choice-to-die/_
To browse through a year of sunrise photographs and contemplations, go to: http://ayearofgettingup.blogspot.com/_
For an introduction to Rachel Field, go here: http://bangordailynews.com/2011/08/04/living/conversations-with-maine-lifestyle/rachel-field-%E2%80%94-poet-writer-daughter-of-maine/