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February 16, 2019Poetry School: Denise Levertov on form as a revelation
After reading poet Denise Levertov’s 1965 essay “Some Notes on Organic Form,” I had a revelation: I write poetry mainly in organic form. Given that the notion of the work of art as a self-germinating ...
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February 22, 2019Poetry School: Feminist re-vision with Ms. Rich
Feminist revisionist mythologies represent a vibrant stream in mid-to-late 20th- and 21st-century poetry. I’m thinking of Muriel Rukeyser’s Orpheus; Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife and Feminine ...
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February 24, 2019Poetry School: Getting specific with Amiri Baraka
Writing is reading, teaching is learning. As I said in my invitation for readers to join me this month-long online Poetry School, I expected to benefit the most from these researches into the craft and ...
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February 08, 2019Poetry School: Keeping it real with Wordsworth
Lyric poetry. We say it casually, but what does it mean? The musical connotation is there, even if we don’t accompany our lyric poems with music. An inherent music, then. The lifts and falls. Rhythm. ...
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February 20, 2019Poetry School: Rilke’s advice against advice
My aversion to the poetry workshop grew quickly many years ago. Let me correct that: my aversion to the untutored, undisciplined poetry workshop.Although I’ve been writing poems off and on since I was ...
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October 05, 2021Poetry Should "Be Surprised By What it Says": David O'Meara on Why Poems Shouldn't Try to Be Poems
Canadian writers know Ottawa-based poet David O'Meara not only for his acclaimed collections but also his contributions to the community. From serving as the founding Artistic Director for VERSeFest ...
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February 14, 2016Poetry to Pillowtalk: The 14 Best Poems to Woo a Lover
Looking to pitch some (bookish) woo? To celebrate Valentine's Day, we asked writers, publishing professionals and literary luminaries for their selection of the best poem with which to turn your beloved's ...
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February 23, 2017
Poetry vs Prose part 2 of 2
“But what does this have to do with poetry and prose?”What is poetry? What is prose? If the medium is the message, and the primary medium for most written poetry and prose is the page, why don't we ...
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May 30, 2021
Poetry: A Healing Tool for Dark Days
I started this month with mental health for writers, and I want to end it with a more personal look at the same topic.One of the many reasons I’ve been grateful to Open Book for offering me this residency ...
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October 16, 2020Poets Becoming Novelists: On Trusting Leaps and Fragments
I finished the first draft of my novel in mid-March – in the first week of isolation. I hadn’t grasped the gravity of the pandemic then, so I was grateful for the sudden reprieve from the real world. ...
