Columbia State Community College professor of English Jeff Hardin published his most recent book of poetry, “Watermark.”

Hardin has previously published six collections of poetry. Four of Hardin’s books have received awards, including the Donald Justice Prize in 2015 and the X. J. Kennedy Prize in 2017. Over the last three decades, hundreds of his poems have appeared in many of the nation’s leading journals, including “The Southern Review,” “North American Review,” “Hudson Review” and others.

Of his newest collection, poet Jane Satterfield said, “For years, Jeff Hardin's captivating, spiritually engaged poems have revealed the resonant beauty of the natural world and celebrated the labor of metaphysical striving.”

Poet Bobby Rogers, writing of Hardin’s book, said, “Jeff Hardin's poems are vessels of wisdom and truth.”

The book was started almost two decades ago. Hardin made a list of five-word phrases that had always been central to him. He placed the words vertically down the page and then “stitched” his thoughts through each of the words.

“I wanted to honor some of the most influential words that have shaped me,” Hardin said.

Some of his phrases, such as “Faith is a fine invention” or “I have promises to keep,” are found in poems by Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Walt Whitman and others.

Other phrases, such as “Count all things but loss” or “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,” are from the Bible. The longest watermark phrases come from Acts 17:28, “for in Him we live and move and have our being.”

“We are descendants of language,” Hardin said. “Back behind the words we speak, there are all these influences that have shaped how we perceive the world.”

Hardin will be the featured poet at the 6th Annual Tennessee Poets Day on April 30 at the Williamson County Public Library. In October, he will be a presenter at the annual Southern Festival of Books in Nashville.

Hardin earned his Bachelor of Science degree in English from Austin Peay State University and his Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Alabama. He has taught at Columbia State since 1994.