The Surfacing of Joy

The Surfacing of Joy is Wilcox’s powerful debut collection, offering a heartfelt exploration of life’s seasons through the lens of a scholar, educator, husband, father, and grandfather. These poems ponder the arduous and life-giving work of, as Wilcox puts it, the constant, “making and hearing and seeing / And surfacing of joy.” These poems invite us to evaluate our sense of place in the world and our relationship to nature. These poems teach us how to listen, how to laugh, sometimes to cry, and other times to swoon when we are “overcome with joy at seeing / acres upon acres / of cosmos blooming / in the medians / and roadsides.”

It is through Wilcox’s deft poetic voice that we are carried through his own experiences of joy and pleasure, loss and grief — and in the end we find that these have been our experiences as well and that the joy of life often comes in the living of it alongside others. This debut collection is a testament to the enduring power of poetry to inspire, uplift, and connect.

Earl J. Wilcox, born in 1933, writes poems that capture the wonders of everyday life—from birds and baseball to the musings of famous writers and the pulse of current events. A retired professor and founding editor of The Robert Frost Review, Wilcox spent decades shaping minds at Winthrop University. His poetry, nominated for a Pushcart Prize, has found a home in both print and online journals, resonating with readers far and wide. The Surfacing of Joy is his debut collection, a deeply personal exploration of the joys and sorrows of a life well-lived. Earl calls Rock Hill, SC home, where he writes poetry every day, finding meaning in both the quiet moments and the ones that shout.