POWER OF POETRY #34: “Some Slightly Connected Thoughts on Crafted Vulnerability, Stage Fright, Beauty, and Gratitude” – STEVIE EDWARDS
I am trying to write poems that stand inside of uncertainty and still find things to praise. And I don’t think it matters if I praise my sore legs that keep walking me home from work each night, or if I praise the relief of night rain in my first Carolinian July, or if I praise an idea of a home I miss, or if I praise the mild infection in my right nipple for not being cancer, or if I praise my friend who has stomach cancer but keeps living beyond the rational limits doctors have suggested—it is all praising living. It is all beholding the terrible beautiful uncertainty of being human and saying thank you. I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than gratitude, and poetry helps me to access it.
THE POWER OF POETRY #13: “YOU TALK TOO MUCH” – CRISTOPHER GIBSON
You Talk Too Much – Cristopher Gibson “CRISTOPHER!” Is what I recall most about school, the dinner table, church, or really anywhere I was with other people as … Continue reading →
THE POWER OF POETRY #11: DUNCAN SHIELDS
The Power of Poetry – Duncan Shields Poetry uses language to surpass language. That is the central thought I’ve come to believe during my relationship with the spoken and written … Continue reading →
QOTD- Choose Your Weapon
George RR Martin writes his books on a DOS machine, and I kind of love that. He says he likes the simplicity of the old word processor, and I understand … Continue reading →
QOTD – April 25 – A Reader of Reviews?
We are gearing up to start our book review section on Monday. The majority of the reviews will be based in the world of poetry chapbooks, and I couldn’t be … Continue reading →
How Does Best Selling Author Jodi Picoult Feel About Poetry?
@poetryquestion Poetry: The marriage of precision of language and raw emotion. — Jodi Picoult (@jodipicoult) November 21, 2013
QOTD – September 24 – Do You Write Happy Words?
Yesterday I was asked if I ever write happy words – if my songs, or poems, or stories, are ever actually glass-half-full type pieces. The answer is simple: No. It … Continue reading →
Write the Real, Not the “Real.”
Write the real. Notice there are no quotation marks around the word “real” in that first sentence; it’s because the words that should go down on paper are those … Continue reading →
Paris Review – The Art of Fiction No. 207, Jonathan Franzen
Paris Review – The Art of Fiction No. 207, Jonathan Franzen. The following interview took place over two days in an office borrowed from the University of California, Santa Cruz. … Continue reading →
The Daily Prompt – February 25 – Re-Tell Me Your Favorite Story
Rules: 1. Use the prompt in the way it’s intended (starting a sentence, the title of the piece, theme, etc) 2. You may write in any format you see fit (fiction, non-fiction, … Continue reading →