2020 On poetry

“I do believe an author’s biographical identity is an insufficient marker for experience—even impossible to pin down with any accuracy—and the same holds true for a reader’s. This is the beginning of compassion for others.”

Amy Nawrocki creates and assesses a poem inspired by a misspelling and a snake in her basement.

Elizabeth Bradfield founded Broadsided Press with the mission to get poetry back in the public sphere.

Joyce Peseroff pens a tribute to Donald Hall and the house that raised his family as well as his art.

Poet and WTP contributor Lisa Stice contemplates how the context of her life has influenced what she writes about and how she writes her poetry.

Knowing Knott, from Tiger Bark Press, is a tribute not only to Bill Knott’s poetry but also to the man himself.

Ned Stuckey-French highlights his experience with writer and friend Phillip Lopate’s blog for The American Scholar.

Caitlin E. Krause contemplates how Akhmatova’s personal trials inspired and improved her poetry.

Rediscovered literary journals and the power of art to give voice.

Jo Ely reviews Salena Godden’s album, Live Wire, a is a thoughtful compilation of Godden’s poetry performances in theatre and festivals from over the years.

“Particular words have ways of thrumming in my mind, and it was years before I would realize poetry rather than fiction would be their best conduit.”

A few years ago, poet activist Michael Rothenberg contacted me. He asked if I would be willing to organize an event for the world-wide 100,000 Poets for Change (100TPC) Day.

Adapted from the introduction to Godden’s collection of poetry,  Fishing in the Aftermath.

What is it about a poem that can push us over the edge of our banal comfort zones?

Donald Kolberg, sculptor/painter, as a poet in his word canvases.

Chapbooks: a wonderfully untapped medium to sample your work. Not just for poetry, but for flash fiction and short stories in general.

In reality, haiku is fresh, exciting, abstract, and quite often filled with whimsy.