REVIEW: SWEET, YOUNG, AND WORRIED – BLYTHE BAIRD (BUTTON POETRY)
December 29, 2022
Baird truly pours her heart onto each page, and it can be felt beating in every single word. – Isabella Ciraco
Youtube
REVIEW: SYMMETRY OF FISH – SU CHO (PENGUIN BOOKS)
December 27, 2022
Su Cho’s The Symmetry of Fish is a summon into experience, adventure, loss, sadness, pain and enlightenment. – Michael Imossan
REVIEW: URBANSHEE BY SIAARA FREEMAN (BUTTON POETRY)
December 27, 2022
Siaara Freeman shrieks and wails, but she also knows when to pull back, when to whisper and when to let the blank space reverberate like the ghost of a storm – Ronnie K. Stephens
THE STUDY OF HUMAN LIFE – JOSHUA BENNETT (PENGUIN POETS)
November 30, 2022
Bennett has established himself as an intensely patient and deliberate writer capable of upending genre as seamlessly as he upends our understanding of the world. – Ronnie K. Stephens
REPLAYS: FEEL ALRIGHT BY KRIIISPY
November 29, 2022
This year I been moving different
People acting mad funny – Peter griffin
People shooting for the stars
When they should’ve just stayed wishing
– Reggie Johnson
REPLAYS: SHIRT BY SZA
November 1, 2022
Blood again on my cardigan
Yes, we could’ve been more than friends
– Reggie Johnson
REPLAYS: BET BY RUSS
October 26, 2022
Bet
I’m over here just matching my energy
You sigh in relief
But there ain’t no relief in me
– Reggie Johnson
TPQ20 – S4EP2: COURTNEY FAYE TAYLOR
October 23, 2022
Join Chris of The Poetry Question in conversation with Courtney Faye Taylor, author of Concentrate (Graywolf Press) and winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!
REPLAYS: MIXY BY QUAVO, TAKEOFF & SUMMER WALKER
October 18, 2022
I ain’t mixy
If my actions change
Adjusting to your nonsense
Now all of sudden I’m acting strange
– Reggie Johnson
TPQ20 – SAIDA AGOSTINI BOSTIC
September 25, 2022
Join Chris in a sit down with Saida Agostini Bostic, author of Let the Dead In (Alan Squire Publishing), about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!
REPLAYS: OUTSIDE BY BRYSON TILLER
September 13, 2022
Luckily I clean it up well
Yeah prepare for the tide
Not a stain on me
We take off on our ride
– Reggie Johnson
TPQ20: S3EP14 – SANDRA CISNEROS
September 12, 2022
Join Chris in a sit-down with the legendary Sandra Cisneros, author of Woman Without Shame (Alfred A. Knopf), about passions, process, pitfalls, and poetry!
REVIEW: A SHIVER IN THE LEAVES – LUTHER HUGHES (BOA EDITIONS)
August 29, 2022
His use of structure, rhythm and extended metaphor are among the best, and his particular utilization of the crow throughout A Shiver in the Leaves sets this debut apart as one of the most layered, complex collections of the year. – Ronnie K. Stephens
TALK TO ME: NOLCHA FOX
August 26, 2022
I love putting odd images together, playing with alternate definitions of words, twisting the end. My adult me is the one who figures out where to submit the glorious mess I make of a poem. – Nolcha Fox
REPLAYS: TOXIC BY YG
August 23, 2022
Dramamine because I’m sick of you
When patience ran thin
Where was thick for you?
What didn’t click for you?
– Reggie Johnson
TPQ20: S3EP11 – H. MELT
August 21, 2022
Join Chris in a sit down with H. MELT, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!
REVIEW: LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE – AUSTIN DAVIS (OUTCAST PRESS)
August 18, 2022
It’s a testament to all of us holding depression and joy in both hands, to everyone that has ever felt their world could end before the sun goes down. – Caitie L. Young
REVIEW: SO, STRANGER – TOPAZ WINTERS (BUTTON POETRY)
August 3, 2022
Winters offers a layered and thoughtful critique of the immigrant experience in America, the nuances of her relationship with her father and how borders operate in our lives. – Ronnie K. Stephens
SPEAK FREELY: MEANING AND METAPHOR IN RACHEL MCKIBBENS’ “THE WIDOWER”
July 28, 2022
Rachel McKibbens “The Widower” captures students because it’s visceral, emotional, and refuses to be ignored. – Ronnie K. Stephens
REVIEW: DIARIES OF A TERRORIST – CHRISTOPHER SOTO (COPPER CANYON PRESS)
July 20, 2022
Soto’s poems are meant to be rough, triggering at times, and cut straight to the point. Readers can’t help but understand the message, empathize, and feel like we’re supposed to fix things ourselves.
REPLAYS: THE SIGN BY LIZZO
July 19, 2022
Hey how you doing?
Are you getting tired yet?
I might forgive you
But I never forget
– Reggie Johnson
REVIEW: LET THE DEAD IN – SAIDA AGOSTINI (ALAN SQUIRE PUBLISHING)
July 18, 2022
The language, lyrically dispensed in its distinct style, portrays bravery and reveals a poet whose voice is both an ache and a cure. – Martins Deep
REVIEW: TIME IS A MOTHER – OCEAN VUONG (PENGUIN PRESS)
July 11, 2022
Vuong uses structure to further disrupt linear fluidity. His poems frequently utilize a style of enjambment that eschews natural speech, presenting fragments that time and again force the reader forward. – Ronnie K. Stephens
SATURDAY T-SHIRT ALERT
July 9, 2022
𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐘? 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐇.
It’s the only shirt your kid’s teacher won’t dress code them on.
REVIEW: ALL THE BLOOD INVOLVED IN LOVE (HAYMARKET BOOKS)
June 29, 2022
Maya Marshall’s debut interrogates the current sociopolitical nature and its threat to reproductive rights, choice, and Blackness. – Caitie L. Young
REPLAYS: SURPRISE BY CHLÖE BAILEY
June 21, 2022
Not into too many surprises
Unless it’s a special occasion
And whenever I’m with you
It’s a cause for a celebration
– Reggie Johnson
REVIEW: ALL THE FLOWERS KNEELING – PAUL TRAN (PENGUIN POETS)
June 21, 2022
Paul Tran’s long-awaited debut collection, All the Flowers Kneeling, is a fierce reminder that Tran is one of the most talented and visceral poets writing in America today. – Ronnie K. Stephens
RELEASE DAY: HALF-BRED – ANTHONY SALANDY
June 14, 2022
Order your copy of A.R. Salandy’s Half-Bred! Only 100 copies available!
SPEAK FREELY: MENTAL HEALTH AND THE POETICS OF COLLECTIVE HEALING
May 25, 2022
Discussing mental health in the classroom can be incredibly daunting, especially as educators face public criticism and accusations of indoctrinating students. – Ronnie K. Stephens
SPEAK FREELY: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH EDITION
April 20, 2022
This month, I’m sharing some of my favorite pedagogical practices to introduce during National Poetry Month, as well as some of the poems I return to in my classes year after year. – Ronnie K. Stephens
REVIEW: BLOODFRESH BY EBONY STEWART (BUTTON POETRY)
February 22, 2022
Stewart is at her best, masterfully blending her understanding of craft with her keen ear for orality to offer a collection readers will be talking about for years. – Ronnie K. Stephens
EVERYTHING IS A POEM: SPAM AND SOY SAUCE SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH RICE
January 13, 2022
There’s a deep hurt I feel when I share my food with others and they respond with, “That looks gross!” – Alex Dang
REPLAYS: OVER – DRAKE
August 16, 2021
The song served as a reintroduction for my love for writing. For the first time, I was able to combine my love for both music and writing together.
REPLAYS: SEEING GREEN BY NICKI MINAJ, DRAKE, & LIL’ WAYNE
May 18, 2021
I been doing this here since Wayne’s dedication
I been doing this here, hear the dedication
I’ve been doing this hair, na look at the transformation
Went bald on everyone
And look how things shaping up
If you ain’t growing with me
Then you had to be cut
“MY MFA ONLY MADE MY BLENDER WHIR FASTER”: TALK TO ME: CHRISTINE SLOAN STODDARD
May 13, 2021
I used discarded camera and computer parts to print into clay tablets. I bleached chicken bones, spray-painted various objects, drew large-scale oil pastel scenery, and cut up old books all for art installations.
CHAPBOOK CONTEST: SUBMISSIONS OPEN!
April 8, 2021
CHAPBOOK CONTEST: SUBMISSIONS OPEN!
Submit your chapbook manuscripts to The Poetry Question! Guest Judges: Sofia Fey & Chris L. Butler.
BROWN STUDY: “SELF PORTRAIT AS A MERMAID OR DEAD GIRL” – GAIA RAJAN
April 1, 2021
BROWN STUDY: “SELF PORTRAIT AS A MERMAID OR DEAD GIRL” – GAIA RAJAN
I started thinking about who owns grief, how memory and grief affect the body, and soon enough, the poem turned into an elegy for someone I’ve lost.
REVIEW: TRICKS OF LIGHT – THADDEUS RUTKOWSKI (GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA)
February 17, 2021
REVIEW: TRICKS OF LIGHT – THADDEUS RUTKOWSKI (GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA)
He seems to consider care to be of utmost concern, not just for family, but also for strangers.
REVIEW: WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP – JESSIE LYNN McMAINS (BONE & INK PRESS)
February 11, 2021
REVIEW: WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP – JESSIE LYNN McMAINS (BONE & INK PRESS)
They are unafraid to show the awfulness and bitterness, old beliefs and traditions, terrible acts inflicted by the people who inhabit the snowy state.
REVIEW: SENTIMENTAL VIOLENCE — GABRIELLE HOGAN (GHOST CITY PRESS)
January 27, 2021
REVIEW: SENTIMENTAL VIOLENCE — GABRIELLE HOGAN (GHOST CITY PRESS)
As we all know, though, joy does not exist without violence — not for Tonya, and not for any of us.
WE HAVE THE GREATEST COMMUNITY
March 17, 2020
WE HAVE THE GREATEST COMMUNITY
This is not a post about poetry. This is a post about reaching out to the community for help in a time of need. The outpouring of love and help thus far has been beyond overwhelming. We are humbled and grateful.
THE POWER OF POETRY #20: “I USED TO HATE POETRY” – DENICE FROHMAN
July 30, 2015
Photo Courtesy of Conrad Erb, LiveConnections “I Used to Hate Poetry” — Denice Frohman For many poets and writers the story goes like this: I always loved reading, I had books everywhere, and started writing poetry early on as a kid. I’m not that poet. My parents were concerned with
THE POWER OF POETRY #13: “YOU TALK TOO MUCH” – CRISTOPHER GIBSON
July 7, 2015
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 a child. Anyone who knows me knows that I talk…a lot. As a kid this was in hyper drive. I
REVIEW: OUR NUMBERED DAYS – NEIL HILBORN (BUTTON POETRY)
June 10, 2015
To say I hate you would imply a world in which I kissed more than your stomach. Look, we’ve established that I’m a jerk, so let me say this: I am a flat tire and you are a pothole full of lug nuts. I am a pile of