Pulled from a longer manuscript to be published soon, these two poems from “Fear of Intimacy, Fear of Want” speak to the depths of that longer work. Beyond the fresh body imagery, these poems evoke place with precision and delicacy,…
As a platform for emerging poets, our mission is to be as clear and helpful as we possibly can. The community lifts itself up together or not at all. In that light, we’ve collected a few craft reasons for why…
Elegies, the poet Dan Bellm argues, are poetry’s first reason. We are proud to publish Chaun Ballard’s powerful “Unfinished Sonnet.” It does all the right things a sonnet should do. The poem packs the mouth with sounds, darkly enjoyed—it gives…
Another month of summer, another month of opportunities. PEN Center Emerging Voices Fellowships for 2018 Pen is looking to support writers who are struggling to find the usual track. If you “do not have significant publication credits, are not enrolled…
Immediately, Van Prooyen gets inside the reader’s mouth. From there, she works outward, shaking the limbs and the feet and the hands, convincing the reader’s body to get in the car and go along for the ride. What a ride…
For this Poems That Teach, we’ll be doing a close reading of a contemporary prayer-poem—looking for those moments of genius to copy in our own poetry. Join us as we explore the beauty and the humor of Andrew Hudgins’ “Praying…
This series of poems by Reuben Canning Finkel is transportive; with these three moments of a child’s life, we’re given a deep and intimate picture of family, of community, of childhood. Finkel builds scenes that are easy to recognize and…
Afterland by Mai Der Vang (Graywolf Press) “The sky sleeps quilted in a militia of stars.” —from “Light from a Burning Citadel” Winning the 2016 Walt Whitman Award, Mai Der Vang’s debut collection is a manifold text, acting at times…
Translated from the Uyghur by Joshua Freeman, this poem speaks of God as the best poetry will—where no lecture is being made, or point argued, or overly sentimental gushing, but simply it lays bare a human heart in the context…
The most radical poem a poet can write today is a sonnet.” — Barton Sutter Often, we’re blocked from learning poetry deeply by the very real barriers of cost and time, especially those of us who cannot afford the MFA…
