In celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, South Dakota native Joseph Bottum presents This Far Country, an epic poem that weaves the story of America’s founding into the landscape and spirit of the prairie. Through four quintessential South Dakota symbols—the meadowlark, chokecherry jelly, the homestead, and the river—Bottum offers a lyrical meditation on history, memory, and the meaning of liberty.

Reaching back to 1776, Bottum connects the ideas and convictions that shaped the Declaration of Independence to the wide plains “where liberty found a place,” illuminating how the nation’s founding currents flowed west to shape South Dakota.

A South Dakota native with a Ph.D. in medieval philosophy, Joseph Bottum is one of the nation’s most widely published writers, author of more than a thousand essays, reviews, poems, and stories appearing in outlets ranging from The Atlantic to The Washington Post.

Publishing March 10, 2026, This Far Country marks a landmark contribution to South Dakota’s commemoration of America’s Semiquincentennial. You can preorder This Far Country at https://www.sdhspress.com/books/this-far-country