Magical realism magical realism poetry poetic craft poetry

Poetry’s wonderful world of magic and realism

Poetry’s wonderful world of magic — that’s almost redundant. Isn’t the elevated world of a poem necessarily a magical one? The magic comes from close attention –the writer’s and the reader’s — to people, beings, relationships, and things. But every poem needs specifics to ground the reader, to help a readerĀ  enter the world of the poem.

Continue reading

book review Femme au chapeau poem poetic craft poetry poetry about art poetry about fathers poetry about the ocean poetry book pre-order

To obtain a great cover image, try pleading “Poet in Poverty”

It was great fun to correspond with Matisse’s great grandson in order to obtain rights to use this image on the cover of my poetry collection Femme au chapeau. Happy to say it will be available as an eBook in September! Pre-order price for you is $2.99, until 9/26/16. You can go here to pre-order: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/657130. Poet Barbara Crooker did a wonderful review of the book on Smartish Pace, mentioning “exquisite figurative language throughout”. She…

Continue reading

poetic craft poetry Writing

Good blog reading for writers this week

I’ve been reading around some of my favorite blogs, from Indiana Review’s blog on Five Marks of Oft-Rejected Poems, to Erica Goss at Sticks and Stones writing about the Open Mic Experience (both reader and audience sides). One of the things I LOVE doing as a writer is reading what other writers have to say about their process — whether it’s writing, revising, publishing, reading, promoting, or reading. And this holiday season seems to bring…

Continue reading

being a poet Gods of Water and Air poetic craft poetry book Writing

Permission to be a poet

It’s something only you can give yourself: a space to create, sweet as ripe cherries. To find it, buy it with love for your creative self, wrap it in ethereal sheets of time, and then unwrap it as though you deserve every crinkle of the delicate paper and every silky ribbon of ink. You give yourself permission to NOT write a word. Not even think. To drift, a poet in poet time with the willingness…

Continue reading

Associated Writing Programs AWP California environment poetic craft Writing writing conferences

In My Purse Today: Writing Conferences

In my purse today: writing conferences, virtual and onsite. While the Associated Writing Programs 2014 Conference rages on in Seattle (the verb is apt), I was on a panel discussion of a wonderful online writing workshop on Facebook. I never left my comfortable chair to go through a security line and drafty airports, but I had the pleasure of conversing with poets from around the country on the topic of the places they write from,…

Continue reading

book review poetic craft prayer poems spiritual poems Writing

Things I learned from my readers

Purchase Gods of Water and Air In book reviews and personal responses to my poetry, readers have revealed to me more about how and why I write than I could have learned through introspection. They’ve also inspired me to write new work. That’s a poem prompt I’ve seen nowhere: “Write a poem based on one reader’s positive comment about your poetry; then revise it based on another reader’s critique.” Here are some things I learned…

Continue reading

book review poetic craft poetry book

Bloghopping – Lynn Domina’s Poetry Book Review-a-Week & The Crafty Poet

Gods of Water and Air Lynn Domina, a poet with three published collections (so she should understand the value of a book review), undertakes a blogging goal that leaves me breathless: reviewing a poetry book every week. Since I can barely make it through reading a book a week, I’m in awe. Not only her productivity, but her eloquence and insight are impressive. These aren’t fluff reviews; they’re the real deal. Lynn’s reviews offer analysis…

Continue reading

Christmas poem poem poetic craft poetry prompt

The Daily, Prompted Poet Writes!

I received a great literary Christmas gift among many this year. This one was an offer to include in my daily writing practice an idea suggested by someone else, a launching pass (appropriate for a rocket kid). So today, having a minor stomach bug and needing to rest, I decided to try one and challenge a friend to join me. This is the prompt for December 26: You can see everything in the universe in…

Continue reading