Walking essay by linda hogan

Hogan has received several prestigious awards, including the D'Arcy McNickle Memorial Fellowship at the Newberry Library in 1980 and the Yaddo Artists Colony Residence Fellowship in 1982. She received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for fiction in 1986, a Guggenheim fellowship for fiction in 1990, and a Lannan Award in 1994.

The Book of Medicines, published in 1993, takes on the theme of healing, both the healing of self and the healing of the pain between people. Her poems are hopeful, as if through her journey to find her identity she is able to see past the strife in the world to reconcile and work toward a peaceful future.

Hogan is highly praised for her ability to capture vivid images of nature in her poetry. Although her earlier poems were met with mixed reviews, on the whole critics are charmed by her imagery and captivated by the realism of her portrayal of nature.

In “Leaving,” Hogan asserts her unified self: “Good-bye, divisions of people: … All my people are weeping / when I step out of my old skin.” Hogan's next two poetry collections, Daughters, I Love You (1981) and Eclipse (1983) are influenced by her love for her two daughters.