The Sealey Challenge, Day 28: Sturge Town by Kwame Dawes

When you read a book of poetry in a single day, if not a single sitting, you are more likely to appreciate that poet's particular cadences and diction in your head than if you just read a poem here or there. 

In this case, because Kwame Dawes was my thesis advisor and teacher at Pacific University's MFA program, I have the advantage of already knowing what his actual voice sounds like, the timbre and slight accent. The same man whose praise bolstered me for years and whose, "I don't believe that you believe that," about a particular line here or there still has me questioning anything I write that might be (even if I don't realize it at first) less than sincere. Sturge Town is my favorite Dawes book to date. I love it for that very trait that Kwame encouraged in me: honesty. Honest self-reflection, and a sense of one's place in the world, his or her personal history.

 

My Conversation with Nancy Miller Gomez is live!

It was truly a joy to speak with Nancy about her poetry and her process, about the power of naming a thing, and leaning into writing what most frightens you. I loved learning more about the ways in which Nancy as a child was already a writer, and exploring what I see as the power of sharing with others our own vulnerability.  As Nancy says, "We’re all just human. We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all said and done things we wish we hadn’t. We all just want to be accepted, and we all just want to be loved."

Much thanks to David Roderick and the editorial staff at The Adroit Journal for publishing our interview.

The Sealey Challenge, Day 27: Information Desk by Robyn Schiff

I've had this book recommended to me more than once, and more than once in response to a draft of one of my own poems. I'm happy to have finally read - or, really, experienced the book. I was able to listen to about half of it, which gave me a great sense of how to hold that voice, and thought, in my head from line to line. So many jumps and shifts. I, too, have worked an information desk of sorts - reference at an downtown public library - and have experienced both startling and repetitive requests, and may have been tempted once or twice to provide wildly inaccurate or ironic answers. I, too, have a bit of a fascination with insects. But what I know about art and history is amounts to a fleck of paint compared to Schiff's knowledge.

Definitely one of the best reads of the Sealey Challenge for me this year.

The Sealey Challenge, Day 26: Train Dance by Jonathan Wells

 

As I noted on social media, this particular title was, admittedly chosen for it's slimness and availability because today was very busy for me. 

I am not suggesting that those two attributes are, generally speaking, ideal reasons to chose anything, however.

The Sealey Challenge, Day 25: The Good Thief by Marie Howe

 

The Sealey Challenge, Day 24: The World to Come by David Keplinger

 

The Sealey Challenge, Day 23: frank:sonnets by Diane Seuss