Coming soon, Red.
A Sonnet’s Unlikely Resolution: John Milton On His Blindness
One of the greatest poets who ever lived worries that his poetry is not good enough.
Alan Shapiro’s “Night of the Republic”
Poet Alan Shapiro loads his minds-eye camera with film (or, these days, a disk)
We Made a Word Bowl, Just for You
If the Super Bowl begs for nachos and dip, the WORD BOWL begs for wine, cheese, and the renegade Cheeto
Resolving the Dandelion Poet
As a poem begins to take form, the poet walks a fine line of crafting and allowing the poem to craft itself.
My Last Villanelle
I admire a well-executed villanelle in the same way I admire a Baroque Tromp-l’oeil ceiling
Writing the Priest, Part 1
Given a priest as central character, those lyrics hold double meaning, making your story line seem especially promising for its inherent tensions
A Top 10 Poetry Christmas List
What’s on your poetry Christmas list?
I See You in There: the Villanelle
Like most poetry built on refrains, the villanelle steers away from narrative ideals, away from conversation and linear exchange
Anna of the Russias
Akhmatova herself should not be forgotten
Living By Heart Poems
I set myself the daily task of writing a poem each morning to my body.
By Heart: Because You Might Need It Like Marie Ponsot
When poet Marie Ponsot suffered a stroke at the age of 89, she lost all of her language.
Poetry Memorization: Write it on the Heart, Says Julia Kasdorf
I tell them committing a poem is a form of self love, like buying yourself a gift, only better.
It’s Not Exactly What Happened: L.L. Barkat on Writing
Check out this interview with L.L. Barkat at The High Calling, and get writing tips and more of the inside story.
Why Poetry, My Love?
Why poetry? If you’ve experienced the power of a word, you’ve experienced the power of poetry.
Why Poetry, in a Simpson’s World?
Why is it so laughable to study poetry? Maybe because Hallmark has turned poetry into trite sentimentalism.
Waking the Poet: Cures for Writers Block
Got writer’s block? Lower your standards. Stop refusing your fortune. It’s a start.
What is Poetry: Falling in Love, 2
What is poetry? Any effort to define Poetry (with a capital “P”) in an exhaustive way is doomed to fall short. So why not offer a poet’s heresy.
What is Poetry: Falling in Love, 1
The first step towards falling in love, of course, is the cultivation of friendship. And so I have to convince my students that poetry—and the poets who write them—are friends worth getting to know.
Where to Find Words
Is Twitter really mindless for the writer?