Guests

I’m going to use this page to link to guest poets and writers. Click on the name to go to that post. You can also use the “search” feature.

Blog

Chris Dahl’s NOT NOW BUT SOONNovember 30, 2025 - 12:26 am
I’m pleased to let you know that my review of Chris Dahl’s Not Now But Soon, winner of the 2025 Concrete Wolf Louis Award, is now posted at Escape Into Life. (Be sure to explore the links!) Chris is one of the mainstays of Olympia Poetry Network (OPN); no matter where you live, they welcome new members, […]
The Autobiography of RainNovember 15, 2025 - 9:20 pm
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RAIN, Lana Hechtman Ayers. Fernwood Press, 2024. Lana Hechtman Ayers is a one-woman poetry dynamo. She is the managing editor of three Pacific Northwest poetry presses: MoonPath Press, Concrete Wolf Poetry Series, and World Enough Writers. She also leads generative workshops, helps people assemble their books of poems, teaches at conferences, and […]
Sheila Bender’s Writing It RealNovember 7, 2025 - 9:00 pm
It’s my pleasure today to share Sheila Bender’s Writing It Real substack. This week’s podcast features a trio of poets, Lillo Way, Lisa Ashley, and me. https://sheilabender.substack.com Sheila does a great job introducing us on the podcast, but if you don’t already know all about Sheila Bender, you should. She is the author of numerous […]
Emily Dickinson and the Mystery of the 40 FasciclesNovember 2, 2025 - 12:20 am
This post was supposed to go up on Halloween, but let’s settle for Day of the Dead. In short, I’m preparing to teach another Creative Retirement Institute course on Emily Dickinson, this one titled “Emily Dickinson and the Mystery of the 40 Fascicles,” which to my mind has a nice Arabian Nights or maybe Nancy […]
What I’m Reading NowOctober 14, 2025 - 11:34 pm
THE OCEAN CANNOT BE BLUE, POEMS by Kirsten Hampton. Turning Point, 2019, www.turningpointbooks.com. Detail from “One Drop” Rule If there is one emerald anchovy darting in the water the ocean cannot be blue — Kirsten Hampton, The Ocean Cannot Be […]
Breaking and EnteringSeptember 25, 2025 - 4:45 pm
After such a long dry spell, it’s a bit like breaking and entering to write here. On September 1, Bruce’s and my 40th anniversary, I tried to write a post to update you about my journey, but after I drafted it, I couldn’t bring myself to hit “publish.” Today, though I have some announcements or […]
What I’m ReadingJune 30, 2025 - 7:03 pm
I’ve had a mighty struggle this past few weeks to do even a minimum of writing (determined to catch up this week…we will see, and, after that, to begin blogging again). Reading obsessively about dementia, getting lost in political news…these things do not seem especially helpful to me. On the other hand, reading poetry, and […]
Sleeping Lessons, a chapbook by J. I. KleinbergMay 23, 2025 - 6:40 pm
SLEEPING LESSONS: A POEM IN PARTS, J. I. Kleinberg. Milk & Cake Press, 2025. If you find yourself awake in the night, fretting over political mayhem, have I got a book for you. Twenty numbered parts. Twenty first lines: She taught me how to sleep – A Dickinsonian cascade of variations on a theme. Instructions […]
Nature: Poems Old and NewMay 2, 2025 - 7:52 pm
NATURE: POEMS OLD AND NEW, May Swenson (1913-1989). Houghton Mifflin, 2006. In preparation for my Creative Retirement Institute course on May Swenson, beginning next Tuesday afternoon, I’ve been reading Swenson’s poetry and a collection of essays, Body My House: May Swenson’s Work and Life, edited by Paul Crumbley and Patricia M. Gantt (Utah State Univ. […]
Plum Blossom WineApril 27, 2025 - 1:06 am
PLUM BLOSSOM WINE, Poems by Li Qingzhao, trans. by Sibyl James and Kang Xuepei (Empty Bowl Press, 2024). I had a hectic week, but this morning—with no where to go, no errands, no doctor appointments—I decided to read a book of poems. I cheated, perhaps, by picking up a small book. But, oh my. Mostly […]