With fifty years experience, West offers online education programs to audiences worldwide. Most of ike’s seminars are open to the public. In addition, she speaks at conferences and events in Europe, North America, and online everywhere.
Under her formal name, Eileen “ike” West authored two full length novels. Her latest, Another Giant World (UK 2018) and her first, Away From Hannah’s Castle (USA and NL 2006) place spiritual adventure in the reader’s hands.
In America and Europe, ike West articles have been published in English, and translated into many languages. The enclosed list of articles and the magazine, journal, and newspaper in which they were published, provides an overview of ike’s writing through the years.
Today, the way to capture the speed at which the world revolves is to note what can be locked into poetic form. That’s exactly what ike has done in her latest book,
Whistler of Petty Crimes
AVAILABLE NOW on amazon.com
Please buy a copy and follow the ‘Read More’ link below to find a sample of West’s poetic musings, and comments on the joyously thought-provoking, Whistler of Petty Crimes.
While living on remote ranch land in West Texas, ike West penned rudimentary cartoons to share with friends and family in the form of a calendar, showing a cartoon theme each month. Now, years later, the cartoons serve as an endearing reminder of ike’s 1980’s worldview.
ike West has a number of works in progress: first, birthing volume one of her poetry, Whistler of Petty Crimes. At the same time she’s drafting the second volume of her poetry collection; then there’s a non-fiction book outlined and ready to flush out. Busy, busy.
ike West supports Native American families and organizations, serving the Dakota and others. Other volunteer endeavors include assisting in the development of innovative service programs to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of women.
As a child in the 1960’s, ike played teacher and writer, her first opinion page published
in a Girl Scout magazine at the ripe old age of twelve. At sixteen years, her first writing
contest submittal won her top prize of $50. Only, years later, while in graduate school,
did ike begin teaching full-time. Her writing never stopped; magazine and journal
articles appearing both in North America and Europe. These days, semi-retired, ike
continues work in both professions, teaching when possible and writing a lot.
News …
May 2023
I’m sitting on pins and needles, waiting to hear what people have to say about my first poetry collection Whistler of Petty Crimes. I fret a little, worried readers will find it too much about my personal life. Another concern: people who know my work, won’t read Whistler because it is poetry. And to that, I say: the book is a compilation of stories, most are lengthy—like good stories often are—and nowhere in the book do the lines rhyme. Some call it folk poetry, like folk music without the tune underneath. At any rate, I decided to wait no longer for others to speak. I, myself, have a few things to say about what makes this book a worthy read.
News …
April 2023
This past summer, in Taos, New Mexico, I spent six weeks nestled inside adobe walls. The walls of the home were thick red mud, caked by man and baked by sun. The garden and patio also wore a tall, plush robe of the same red clay. Here, I spent most days writing. With earthen barriers all around me, I literally stayed shut away from the world, working undisturbed.
Backing up for a minute, let me just say that before arriving in Taos, I had a general idea of what I wanted to write, having toted with me a bushel of notes I’d accumulated over the years. Once onsite, I put off placing pen to paper, because I discovered the home’s small library held a fascinating book.
April 2023
Recently, my granddaughter Sophie Eagle and I visited Minneapolis expressly to explore, not the giant Mall of the Americas, but rather a small independent book shop owned by the Ojibway author, Louise Erdrich.
In keeping with her tribal roots, Erdrich named her tiny shop Birch Bark Books. It’s tucked into a residential area with strip parks (no strip-malling in this neighborhood). The streets liberally sprinkled with trees and bushes, the book shop, once some family’s home, is one where incoming guests mustn’t blink or they’ll miss the book store entirely. That would be a pity. It’s such a treasure.
April 2023
My birth was rocky back in 1949. For me, life began with a weak pulse. Premature almost a full month, I spent weeks fighting my way past the incubator cage and into the world. Every year, I celebrate the anniversary of my birth in big ways. Balloons, flowers, and cakes with candles.
I keep in mind not the year just passed, but remember my start in that hospital box, my body cold and quarantined. How, at three pounds with no fat on me, I struggled through what should’ve been the ninth month of gestation in a warm womb. Instead I was under glass and in the care of nurses and doctors, strangers all.
March 2023
It is a really hectic time for me—packing up to move from Texas to Oregon. This time for good. Just a few days and I’m really truly off. My final few days after 40 plus years here. Maybe I’m truly off in the math department. (40 years—really? how old of me!) Some sadness, of course. But it feels like good grief, knowing I’m hitting the road to hit a life long dream head on: living in the Oregon mountains. Amazing!
SPRING 2023
ANNOUNCING
The release of ike West’s latest book
Whistler of Petty Crimes
Print and e-book versions available at Amazon.com April 5th, 2023
News …
April 2023
A post-covid phenomenon that seems to linger is that our events-horizons have shortened. That’s just a fancy way of saying most of us are not planning far in advance, at least not in the way we might have done five or ten years ago. It’s like there’s a dense fog between us and what we intend to do long-term.
When we attempt to plan, despite the murky uncertainty between now and a far away then, worry and anxiety often result. So, while we are all in mist-/myst-ical territory, we’re not comfortable there. If only we knew, the clouding of our tomorrows renders everyone in our culture a potential mystic. Yet nobody tells us to explore this aspect of post-covid living. Through my teaching, I encourage people to undertake the search.
News…
March 2023
All marketing wizards in the queendom of Authorland want me to spell out my mission. I suppose in common vernacular it means something like this: “Hey Bubbette! Why are you writing?”
According to the wise atop authorship mountain, such a mission somehow plays into my platform. Huh?
I suppose that translates also. Maybe to: “Hey gal! What’s your deal?”
News …
20 December 2020
Sophie Eagle’s Dedication
Thanks to ike’s oldest granddaughter’s perseverance over several months, the ikewest.com website has a new face—and on some pages, new information.
Views …
2 May 2021
Wisdom Keepers Speak Out
In times of confusion, we turn to those with worldly experiences for clarity, spotlighting a patchwork of valued commentary that pays homage to the best thinking of our times.
Ike’s Next Online Seminars
Solar/Western Astro-Weather Forecast for 2024
Lunar/Earth Astro-Weather Forecast for 2024
Dates to be Announced Winter 2023
Views …
Every Thought’s a Prayer
Recently, one of my friends and a member of the Texas Circle, made a comment about navigating the divisiveness between segments of the America Public. “We’ve gotta watch everything we say.”
Views …
20 December 2020
Puffins at the Start
I grew up telling my parents about memories I had as a baby. They were astounded by what I shared.
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved by ikeWest
Email: ike@ikewest.com
WordPress setup by Sophia Eagle
