SOURCE: McFarland, Ron. “Riding the Earthboy 40: Remaking This World.” In Understanding James Welch, pp. 22-51. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000.

In the following essay, McFarland explicates Riding the Earthboy 40 and cites examples of Richard Hugo's impact on Welch's poetry.

James Welch began his writing career as a poet, and although he has produced only a single volume of poems, it has been influential for various reasons, and his work appears to have secured a place for him in the presently evolving canon of Native American poetry. Moreover, what critics and reviewers have called a “poetic” or “lyrical” style has been recognized from the outset as a feature of his prose. Even after the success of his first two novels, Winter in the Blood and The Death of Jim Loney, and on the brink of the spectacular praise accorded Fools Crow, Welch spoke to interviewers of his intention...