Piano Keys to Poetry
Someplace along the education spectrum, children are introduced to poetry. They love it. Then something happens. Poetry becomes the...
Write Not for Money Nor Fame
As we navigate those debris-laden floodwaters, in an effort to reach the shores of publishing our words, consider the wisdom of Samuel...
A Poem Exists Not to Tell But to Be
Teaching for a number years, I recall student complaints about the “difficulty” of poetry. “I don’t get it. What’s this supposed to be...
Entering a Poem
This is not a “how to” manual but an uncomplicated, oft-overlooked observation. I recall teaching students who were frustrated that they...
Sometimes There is Just One Line: Save that Journal!
Writing every day is probably one of the best practices you can develop as a writer. Even if everything you wrote on one specific day...
Praise for Small Books
In praise of small books with big hearts and minds, I have begun collecting novellas that alter the shape of the world by inches,...
James Baldwin, Ignorance Allied with Power, and the Importance of Poets and Children
In the United States of America, we’re fortunate American powers—those pale, corporate men who believe in the almighty accumulation of...
In Defense of and Recommendation for the Long Novel Read
How many times have you heard a reader remark, “If the book doesn’t grab me in the first few pages, I’m done?” Or the reader might state,...
Be Influenced
Tall, about 6 foot 3 inches, he towered over display tables where he flipped books over casually to check out back covers and author...
Surrounded by Books; Not "Decluttering" Literature
Quite often, people considering the eventuality or imminence of their deaths begin ridding themselves of possessions. They shed their...
