Unbelonging: A Life in Search of Home - Paperback

by Catherine Jagoe (Author)

"Where are you from?" For Catherine Jagoe, a set of complicated assumptions often lies behind this seemingly banal question. While partly an immigrant narrative, Jagoe's memoir in essays is not so much--or not only--about moving to the US and putting down roots but rather more about feeling perpetually in-between and never quite "home." Throughout, Jagoe wrestles with what identity and fidelity mean for a woman with three nationalities, a job as a translator who frequently lives in a fourth country, a history of depression, and chronically divided allegiances. Together, these essays paint a deeply personal yet incredibly relatable portrait of what it means to be an American--and an immigrant--in the twenty-first century.

Author Biography

Catherine Jagoe is a poet, essayist, and translator based in Madison, Wisconsin. Her collection Bloodroot won the Settlement House American Poetry Prize, the Council for Wisconsin Writers' Edna Meudt Award, and an Outstanding Work of Poetry award from the Wisconsin Library Association. A recipient of a Pushcart Prize, among several other honors, she has published nine full-length books and four chapbooks across genres. Her personal essays have aired numerous times on Wisconsin Public Radio's Wisconsin Life series.