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

Edward Harkness, CREEK WATER: NEW & SELECTED POEMSApril 29, 2026 - 6:32 pm
CREEK WATER: NEW & SELECTED POEMS, Edward Harkness, Empty Bowl, 2025. National Poetry Month is slipping away, but if I lower the bar a bit, I think I can get in two more books for you. And it was such a pleasure to spend time this morning with northwest poet Ed Harkness’s Creek Water. In […]
Two Books by Susan LandgrafApril 28, 2026 - 9:24 pm
JOURNEY OF TREES, Susan Landgraf, The Poetry Box Publishing, 2024. Finalist for the 2023 Poetry Box Chapbook Prize. THE INSPIRED POET: WRITING EXERCISES TO SPARK NEW WORK, Susan Landgraf, Two Sylvias Press, 2019. In the words of Jane Wong, the poems in Journey of Trees are “fed by the kindling of myth and lyrical curiosity.” […]
BIRDBRAINS: A LYRICAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON STATE BIRDSApril 26, 2026 - 4:04 pm
BIRDBRAINS: A LYRICAL GUIDE TO WASHINGTON STATE BIRDS, ed. Susan Rich. Raven Chronicles Press, 2025. I have two poems in this lovely book, lovingly curated by Susan Rich, assisted by bird note author Stephanie Delaney and artist Hiroko Seki. The poems are narrative and lyrical, longish and very short. The poets include Martha Silano, Jayne […]
Caitlin Dwyer, IN THE SALTApril 24, 2026 - 7:13 pm
IN THE SALT, Caitlin Dwyer, MoonPath Press, 2026. Winner of the 2025 Sally Albiso Award How much more praise can I lavish on this quirky, brilliant collection of poems? The book is woven of two main strands: the female characters of Homer’s Odyssey, and the story of the birth and imperiled early life of Dwyer’s […]
Maya C. Popa, WOUND IS THE ORIGIN OF WONDERApril 21, 2026 - 2:37 pm
WOUND IS THE ORIGIN OF WONDER, Maya C. Popa, Norton, 2023. In the opening poem in this collection, “Dear Life,” Popa writes, “I can’t undo all I have done to myself / what I have let an appetite for love to do me.” These lines set the tone for a book that again and again […]
Pádraig Ó Tuama, KITCHEN HYMNSApril 18, 2026 - 6:24 pm
KITCHEN HYMNS, Pádraig Ó Tuama, Copper Canyon Press, 2024. I am going to cheat and just give you a few notes, then send you to other, smarter reviewers. You might begin with the first paragraph from Mary Grace Mangano’s review at Jesuit Media Lab, which elegantly makes Ó Tuama kin with Flannery O’Connor. Both raised […]
Jane Alynn, NECESSITY OF FLIGHTApril 17, 2026 - 7:41 pm
NECESSITY OF FLIGHT, Jane Alynn, Cherry Grove Collections, 2011. As planned, I am spending my April reading poetry, though some mornings a blogpost feels out of reach. This book, not new, but a fairly recent addition to my book hoard, is one I definitely want to share. Necessity of Flight is a showcase for its […]
Paula Becker, A LITTLE BOOK OF SELF-CARE FOR THOSE WHO GRIEVEApril 16, 2026 - 3:42 pm
A LITTLE BOOK OF SELF-CARE FOR THOSE WHO GRIEVE, Paula Becker, Girl Friday Productions, 2021. I want to share this book with you. It’s not poetry, but it’s a lot like poetry, and recommends it: “Poetry can crack grief open and smooth it down, howl its depths…” The book combines beautiful illustrations by Rebekah Nichols. […]
Elaina M. Ellis, WRITE ABOUT AN EMPTY BIRDCAGEApril 14, 2026 - 4:09 pm
WRITE ABOUT AN EMPTY BIRD CAGE, Elaina M. Ellis, Write Bloody Publishing, 2011. I bought this odd collection of poems by Elaina M. Ellis a few years ago, at the Chuckanut Writers Conference. Every so often I pick it up and am inspired by its bravery, its sexual bravado, and its writing prompts. The poems […]
Neile Graham, THE WALK SHE TAKESApril 13, 2026 - 6:43 pm
THE WALK SHE TAKES, Neile Graham, MoonPath Press, 2019. This morning I took a walk across Scotland—and across several centuries—with Neile Graham. She reminded me of something I was told when I visited Chartres Catheral: don’t travel as a tourist, but as a pilgrim. “Why did I leave my shore for another?,” Graham asks in […]