Betty Blanks' Exclusive: Analysis, Contest, and Conversation
On January 28, 2023, Betty Blanks, a Visalia-born lawyer and author, will be at Fresno City College for a reading and program about Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, a significant poet known for her focus on the lives and experiences of the dispossessed.
Blanks, who has been a friend of McDaniel's in her last 14 years and handled her business, legal, and medical affairs, has spent five years researching, assembling, and refining this biography titled "Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel."
McDaniel, born in Oklahoma in 1918 and died in 2007, lived most of her life in the Central Valley of California, from Livingston to Woodlake. Her poetry captured the Okie Diaspora experience, giving expression and dignity to those who are often overlooked or disenfranchised in society.
What made Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel a significant poet of the dispossessed was her authentic portrayal of hardship, resilience, and survival from the perspective of those living on the social and economic margins. Through her work, she articulated the struggles of dispossession with compassion and insight, making her an important literary figure who amplified the voices of the underrepresented. Her life and poetry embody the theme of reclaiming identity and agency, which underscores the act of taking ownership of one's story and asserting one’s presence through writing.
The program will be held from 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. and will take place in the Old Administration Building 251. Readers can find more information about Betty Blanks and her book on her website: wilmaelizabthmcdaniel.com.
For those interested in learning more about McDaniel's life and work, many library branches in the San Joaquin Valley Library System have copies of books, collections, and chapbooks that contain her works. Collections of her poems, stories, and papers can also be found at Oklahoma State University, UC Merced, and various historical societies in California and Oklahoma.
To enter a contest to win a copy of "Pick Up Your Name and Write," readers can email KRL at [email protected] with the subject line "pick up." The contest is open to U.S. residents only and is for readers who are 18 or older. The contest winner will be chosen on January 25, 2025, and readers must include their mailing address if they win.
Betty Blanks hopes that people feel a pride in their own heritage and understand the importance of knowing and telling their own history after reading her book. In 1975, McDaniel was named Poet Laureate of Tulare, further cementing her place in the literary world. One of McDaniel's poems earned her the nickname "The Biscuits & Gravy Poet."
KRL's privacy statement can be found here. KRL receives free copies of most of the books it reviews, in exchange for an honest review of the book. KRL also receives a few cents for purchases made through affiliate links.
Betty Blanks' cat named Oliver and her niece's dogs, Hudson (a Golden Retriever) and Patsy Cline (a French bulldog), often visit her backyard.
[1] For more detailed information on McDaniel's life and work, readers are encouraged to consult scholarly sources and critical perspectives on her poetry.
After attending the program about Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel at Fresno City College, readers may want to explore further by reading "Pick Up Your Name and Write," a biography authored by Betty Blanks. Besides finding McDaniel's works in library branches across the San Joaquin Valley, interested readers can also learn about her life through various pet companions, including Betty's cat Oliver, her niece's Golden Retriever Hudson, and French Bulldog Patsy Cline. For a chance to win a copy of the book, readers can participate in a contest by emailing KRL at [email protected] with "pick up" as the subject line.
