Dark Cloud in Isabel Pass

Tom Sexton (1940-2025) offers his final book of new poems ranging from lyrics about life and nature in his longtime home Alaska, reflections on the ancient Chinese poets he admired, and images from his days in Down East Maine later in his life.

Tom Sexton (1940-2025) is the author of 12 other books of poetry including Cummiskey Alley: New and Selected Lowell Poems, Li Bai Rides a Dolphin Home, A Ladder of Cranes, I Think Again of Those Ancient Chinese Poets, and For the Sake of the Light: New and Selected Poems.

     He was born and grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, along the Concord and Merrimack rivers. After graduating from public high school in 1958, he served in the U. S. Army for three years, part of the time in Alaska.

     Following his military service, he studied at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill downriver from Lowell. He helped establish the school's literary journal called Parnassus, which has won awards and is still active. He enrolled at Salem State College (now Salem State University) in Salem, Mass., earning a bachelor's degree in English in 1968.

     He then returned to Alaska for a Master of Fine Arts degree at the new Anchorage campus of the University of Alaska. As a faculty member in Anchorage (1970-1994), he taught English and creative writing and for a time chaired the department. Tom was a founding editor of the highly regarded and nationally distributed Alaska Quarterly Review. In 1995, the Alaska State Council on the Arts appointed him to serve a term as Poet Laureate of the state. Tom lived in Anchorage with his wife, Sharyn.