Karlo Sevilla : part five

What do you find most difficult about writing poetry? 

The burden of finding the best word and syntax, along with the awareness that revision may be perpetual. 

Diana Rosen : coda

As a journalist and nonfiction book author, I’ve written primarily about tea for many years. As the Chinese saying goes, “One never lives long enough to learn everything there is to know about tea.” I feel the same way about poetry. Every poet I read, every class I take, every textbook I peruse tells me something to consider in the reading and the writing of poetry. While I feel most comfortable writing free verse, the discipline and challenge of switching it up by writing the occasional villanelle or a sonnet, the charm of learning alternative international forms like ghazels or haiku continuously excites me; it’s always a thrill to try something new to me. 

Frances Klein : part two

How do you know when a poem is finished?

I use the strategy of micro-edits to revise poems--doing targeted revisions on just one aspect at a time (sound, line, word choice). After I’ve gone through my normal edits, I’ll let the poem sit for awhile to get some distance. After some time away, I can tell that the piece is either done, or that it needs to be totally reimagined.

Matthew M. C. Smith : part five

What other poetry books have you been reading lately?

Where do I start? I have some cracking anthologies. I’ve been reading 100 Poems to Save the Earth by Seren Books. Some beautiful, heartbreaking work in there; also the inaugural issue of The Storms, which is full of excellent work – a glossy publication. Arachne Press have the A470 Road anthology, which is bilingual and is made up of poems on the theme of this Welsh road that crosses South to North.

I often read R.S. Thomas, the Welsh poet, and would recommend No Truce with the Furies, blistering poems at the end of this priest’s life. I’d recommend Rae Howells’ first collection with Parthian, The Language of Bees, and I’ll be reading Mari Ellis Dunning’s 2nd collection soon.

Jenna Jarvis : coda

I don’t know what I’m doing, but I do know that ‘coda’ is a musical term. I have questions of my own. What comes after graduation? If I missed half of the Y2K revival era’s Y2K bug–if I missed half of the COVID-19 pandemic because I was in Taiwan, where community transmission wasn’t a thing until the rest of the world’s fourth wave–have I missed my chance at relatability? Would people like to do poetry karaoke? Did poetry karaoke happen without me?

Katerina Canyon : part nine

What other poetry books have you been reading lately?

I recently discovered a poet by the name of Matthew Johnson. His collection Shadow Folk and Soul Songs is spectacular. I highly recommend it. I'm also slowly reading Tracy K. Smith's book Such Color.

john compton : part two

How do you know when a poem is finished?

when the poem tells me it no longer wants more length. when that last line bursts and to add anymore would be to ruin the whole poem. there is no definitive answer for me to this question. sometimes i am afraid if i move forward the poem will no longer be what it set out to intend. after i take a few breathes, i begin editing.