"In these poems, Jana Harris has written an accurate and moving account of pioneer life a hundred years ago in Washington state. The varied voices of farmers, Indian women, miners, laundresses, and school teachers tell their own harsh stories, unforgettably." --Annie Dillard, author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek   "The work of Jana Harris is unique in American writing. She has always had a voice of true grit--sometimes harsh, sometimes funny, always close to the bone, tart, and indomitable. . . . Brimful of life, death, and more life, Oh How Can I Keep on Singing? is a wonderful book.

" --Alicia Ostriker, poet and author of Stealing the Language   "These heart-stopping narratives combines the thickness of authenticity, the lyricism of daring, and love, the magic ingredient, into a nourishing whole. Read and be fed." --Maxine Kumin, former US poet laureate   "A remarkable attempt to give voice to a group of women who have dropped out of history. . . . Harris has combined the resources of the poet and the scholar into something new." --Marge Percy, author of Gone to Soldiers.