“Love in the Time of Coronavirus” by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell is the poet’s journal of the pandemic year and its change and upheaval.
Poetry Prompt: Peonies on How To Open Up
Join author Callie Feyen as she explores what it means to open ourselves up in this world. Just like the peonies.
Poets and Poems: Loren Broaddus and “Joe DiMaggio Moves Like Liquid Light”
“Joe DiMaggio Moves Like Liquid Light” by Loren Broaddus is a collection of poems about baseball, but, like baseball, it’s about a lot more.
Poets and Poems: John Martin Finlay and “Dense Poems & Socratic Light”
“Dense Poems & Socratic Light” by John Martin Finlay is the best collection of the poet’s published and unpublished work available.
An Ode to Poetry: “How to Write a Form Poem” by Tania Runyan
“How to Write a Form Poem” by Tania Runyan is a guide to 10 poetic forms. It also stands as an ode to poetry.
Poetry Prompt: Notebooks Trying To Tell
What have you been trying to tell yourself? Callie Feyen finds patterns, threads, and whispers in an old journal and “Kristin Lavransdatter.”
Reconsidering History: Natasha Trethewey and “Native Guard”
In “Native Guard,” poet Natasha Trethewey considers what history often forgets, in this case a Black regiment that fought for the Union.
Poetry Prompt: What’s Left Now
What fragments of love can you find (and write about) from what’s left now? Callie Feyen uses a poem by Marjorie Maddox for inspiration.
You Can Go Home Again – to the Bookstore
After more than a year of pandemic-induced isolation, I was able to go home again—in this case, a bookstore.
Poetry Prompt: Choose Risk Over Cuteness —The Acrostic Poem
Think the acrostic poem is too cute? Think again. Join Callie Feyen and Tania Runyan and see how risky the form can be.
Poets and Poems: James Tweedie and “Mostly Sonnets”
“Mostly Sonnets” by James Tweedie shows how the poetic form can also be used for important subjects other than love.
Poets and Poems: Brad Lussier and “How Does He Love Me?”
The 47 sonnets of “How Does He Love Me?” by Brad Lussier remind us that love is transcendent, eternal and unchanging.
An Epic Told in 500 Sonnets: “The Gift of Life” by Amanda Hall
In “The Gift of Life: An Epic in Verse,” poet Amanda Hall employs some 500 sonnets to tell a story of love amid contemporary life and culture.
Poet-a-Day: Meet Marjorie Maddox
Why write a pantoum? Poet Marjorie Maddox shares her reasons, on the wings of poetry and song.
A Novel About Hughes and Plath: “Your Story, My Story” by Connie Palmen
In the novel “Your Story, My Story,” Dutch author Connie Palmen tells an unexpected story of the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.
By Heart: ‘One Art’ + New Tess Gallagher Challenge
What have you lost today? Poet Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” invites us into the art of losing in this month’s By Heart.
Poets and Poems: Osip Mandelstam and “Poems”
Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938) was a leading poet in the Silver Age of Russian poetry, until ran afoul of the Stalinist regime.
Poets and Poems: Chandra Gurung and “My Father’s Face”
The 47 poems of “My Father’s Face” by Chandra Gurung point to the contradictions of life inherent in all cultures and societies.
Poetry Prompt: Small Things
Join author Callie Feyen as she acknowledges some beastly feelings, and through the gift of small things, turns them into poetry.
Poets and Poems: Charles Hughes and “The Evening Sky”
The poetry of “The Evening Sky” by Charles Hughes speaks to the mortality of life and focusing on what truly matters.