Brutal and bountiful: Poet’s ‘Lindy Lee’ recalls Upstate’s textile history

Kimberly J Simms is a 2002 Furman graduate.

Furman English graduate (Class of 2002) and poet Kimberly Simms answers questions posed by Paul Hyde of The Greenville News about her collection, Lindy Lee: Songs on Mill Hill. The poetry collection describes the hard-scrabble lives of textile mill workers in the early 20th century. Says Simms, “I hope that these poems will raise interest in the untold story of the mill town life just after the turn of the century, but I also hope these poems will help raise awareness for issues that face workers today, especially part-time and temporary workers, as well as workers outside of the United States.”

Simms was the 2016 Carl Sandburg National Historic Site Writer-In-Residence (Flat Rock, N.C.); she is a member of the SC Humanities Council’s Speaker’s Bureau and a pioneer-turned-curator in the world of poetry slams.