Books

Sleep Bringer: UW-Stout Prof’s New Poetry Collection

Rayna DeJongh |

UW-Stout Associate Professor Daniel Ruefman has a new collection of poems set to be published in January 2019 by Finishing Line Press. Sleep Bringer will consist of nearly 50 narrative and free-verse poems, reflecting on Reufman’s experience with fatherhood and child loss. Ruefman’s pursuit of healing after his infant son’s death in 2016 is reflected throughout the pages of his new collection. The therapeutic art of writing fuels the composition of Reufman’s words and themes, as heard through the collection’s title poem, “Sleep Bringer.” A recording of the poem has been made available on YouTube and can be heard prior to the collection’s release. While debuting Sleep Bringer with a number of public appearances and poetry readings, Ruefman has also sold some of his work to Google. Google Assistant Service recites work from a professional collection of randomly-selected poems when instructed to “read me a poem.” Ask Google for a poem and you may eventually hear the words of Ruefman. After obtaining a PhD from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Ruefman moved to Wisconsin to pursue his career as a professor of Rhetoric & Composition at UW-Stout. Since 2011, Ruefman has enhanced a number of courses within UW-Stout’s Department of English & Philosophy. While committing himself to teaching, research and academic service, Reufman has remained an active member of the writing community of Wisconsin and has performed at various poetry readings around the state. As a member of the Academy of American Poets, Ruefman has had nearly 30 poems published in periodicals, along with various works of nonfiction, fiction and scholarly articles. Pre-orders of Sleep Bringer are available at https://bit.ly/2TpuPiu