Rebecca Siegel

November 1, 2020

Calls for Submission, Deadlines, Events, Newsletter, Workshops, The Dipper

The Dipper - November 2020

Rebecca Siegel

November 1, 2020

Calls for Submission, Deadlines, Events, Newsletter, Workshops, The Dipper

"The Dipper" is our monthly newsletter, where we highlight readings, events, calls for submission, and other literary-related news for the coming month. If you have news or events to share, let us know!

November News

Thank you to everyone who attended Sierra Crane Murdoch’s talk in October. What a wonderful night! A huge thanks to Allie Levy of Still North Books for hosting via Crowdcast and to Angela Evancie of Brave Little State for interviewing Sierra. If you missed the event, you can still catch the replay. Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Sierra’s fantastic book, Yellow Bird.

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In case you missed them, in October we added three new interviews to our blog with writers whose recently released books we really love.

First, we welcomed a guest interviewer: poet, teacher and bookstore owner, Rena Mosteirin, who interviewed poet Alexandria Hall about her evocative debut poetry collection, Field Music (Ecco, October 6), which won the 2019 National Poetry Series award selected by Rosanna Warren. In their discussion, Alexandria and Rena talk about the musical quality of the poems in Field Music, the influence of writing in Vermont, and the best writing advice Alexandria’s ever gotten in a workshop.

We also interviewed writer Meredith Hall about her first novel, Beneficence (Godine, October 20), a quiet, unputdownable novel that focuses on the Senters, a farming family in rural Maine over the course of many years. Reminiscent of Wendell Berry and Marilynne Robinson, Hall’s writing is truly beautiful. Read our interview with Meredith to learn how the Senter family came into being, the role of light in her book, and what books she’s really loved recently.

And we interviewed Elizabeth Powell about her latest collection of poetry, Atomizer (LSU Press, September 9), an expansive, honest, and often very funny exploration of life and love in the digital age. Whether she’s writing about the perils and humor of online dating, the insidious workings of capitalism in our cultural and political lives, or her childhood memories of perfume and fashion, these poems are intelligent, accessible, and riveting. Read our interview with Liz to learn how her posh Parisian stepmother provided her early education in perfume, and the connection between her grandfather and Robert Frost.

p.s. Did you know that you can see a list of everything we’ve ever published on our blog on our handy Blog Post Directory? You can easily find back issues of The Dipper, all of our interview posts, reading lists, Friday Reads suggestions, and more!

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After a very busy several months of virtual events and other projects, we’re looking forward to having a quiet end to the year. Among other things, fewer projects means we’ll have more time to spend reading our final Slow Club Book Club selection, Dionne Brand’s The Blue Clerk.

But never fear! We are busy making plans for next year. In fact, we’re getting ready to announce a new Constellation community writing project in early 2021. Newsletter subscribers will be the first to find out the details.

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As this newsletter goes to press, our thoughts, of course, are turning to the events of early November (please tell us you all have voted or have a voting plan), the imminent winter, and the coming holiday season, which, like the rest of 2020 will be oh-so-strange.

One thing we know we can do for ourselves, our loved ones, and our local community is to give each other beautiful, meaningful (and sometimes distracting) books we purchase from independent bookstores. In the coming weeks, we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite books by local authors, our favorite books of 2020, and some favorites of our local independent booksellers. Watch our Twitter and Instagram feeds in November to see these special holiday book shopping suggestions.

November’s Shooting Stars

A cool literary find from each of us to help light up your month!

If you haven’t seen the new Sundog Poetry Center website, I encourage you to take a look. The redesign is wonderful. While there, you can check out their new virtual event series, Two Poets, Two Books, and read more about the Vermont Book Award. —Shari

Do you know Emergence Magazine? I landed there accidentally by way of a series of links that led me to this magical multimedia poem by Forrest Gander and Katie Holten. And then the “Language Keepers” podcast series about the struggle for indigenous language survival in California caught my little linguistic eye, and, yeah, I think I’ll be spending some time there. —Rebecca

November Highlights

Christa Parravani will be in conversation virtually with author Merritt Tierce to discuss Parravani’s new memoir, Loved and Wanted, via Northshire Live on November 10 at 6:00 pm.

Poets Elizabeth Powell and Anna Maria Hong will read as part of the new Sundog Poetry virtual series, “Two Poets, Two Books,” on November 11 at 7:00 pm.

On November 12 at 4:45 pm, join poets Forrest Gander and Nicole Sealey for an online reading and Q&A via Dartmouth College’s Leslie Center for the Humanities.

Terese Mailhot is giving a virtual reading and craft talk through Vermont Studio Center on November 13 and 14, respectively. The reading will begin at 7:00 pm and the craft talk starts at 10:00 am. (Slow Club Book Club members, take note!)

Poets Chen Chen and Jennifer Militello read as part of the virtual Loom Poetry Series via Toadstool Bookshop on November 15 at 4:30 pm.

On November 19 at 7:00 pm, François S. Clemmons, who played Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, reads from his memoir as part of Virtual Bookstock 2020.

Shawn Wong and Miciah Bay Gault will participate in the Vermont College of Fine Arts Fall Reading Series on November 20 at 5:30 pm. The event includes a round-table discussion on publishing with several agents from Folio Literary Management.

Visit our calendar for detailed information about these events and more!

Worth a Listen

What a treat to hear Ocean Vuong read a new poem (“Beautiful Short Loser”) and talk about his writing practice on In the Studio.
Rumaan Alam talks to Christopher and Drew of So Many Damn Books about his latest novel, Leave the World Behind.
Ali Smith talks with Linn Ullmann about her seasonal quartet of novels on the How to Proceed podcast.

We're Looking Forward to These November Releases

Theorem, by Elizabeth Bradfield and Antonia Contro (Poetry Northwest Editions, November 1)
Aphasia, by Mauro Javier Cardenas (FSG, November 3)
To Be a Man, by Nicole Krauss (Harper, November 3)
The Office of Historical Corrections, by Danielle Evans (Riverhead, November 10)
Loved and Wanted, by Christa Parravani (Henry Holt & Co, November 10)
Self-Portrait, by Celia Paul (NYRB, November 10)
The Sun Collective, by Charles Baxter (Pantheon, November 17)

Calls For Submission and Upcoming Deadlines

Bennington Unbound
November 15 to December 15
This four-week intensive online courses in fiction and nonfiction is geared toward current college and college-ready students considering an academic gap year or looking to supplement their current coursework. The courses are taught by Bennington’s award-winning graduate and undergraduate writing and literature faculty. Weekly live video class meetings foster an intimate seminar experience. Web-based discussion forums and unique multimedia resources extend the classroom community. All students will write both creatively and critically. Students earn one college credit per course.
Deadline: November 8 | Cost: $600/course | Details

New England Review
New England Review is open for nonfiction submissions and for their digital “Confluences” series. For nonfiction, NER accepts a broad range, including dramatic works, essays in translation, interpretive and personal essays, critical reassessments, cultural criticism, travel writing, and environmental writing. The word limit is 20,000. For “Confluences,” they are seeking brief essays (500 to 100 words) in response to a book, play, poem, film, painting, sculpture, building, or other work of art.
Deadline: November 15 | Details

Sunken Garden Chapbook Poetry Prize
Open to anyone writing in the English language, the Sunken Garden prize includes includes a cash award of $1,000 in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, 25 copies of the winning title, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion. Manuscripts are judged anonymously and all finalists will be considered for publication. This year’s final judge is Mark Bibbins.
Deadline: November 30 | Details

Bloodroot Literary Magazine
Bloodroot is now accepting new, unpublished poetry, fiction, and essays for its spring 2021 issue. Send a Word document including 3 to 5 pages of poetry or 10 to 12 pages of fiction and nonfiction. For anything outside that scope, like an experimental form or digital project, please send a one-page proposal and they will be in touch if we want to see more.
Deadline: December 15 | Details

The Dorset Prize for Poetry
Tupelo Press is seeking submissions of previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscripts. The prize is open to anyone writing in the English language. This year’s judge is Tyehimba Jess. The winner receives a $3000 cash prize and a week-long residency at MASS MoCA, in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, 20 copies of the winning title, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion.
Deadline: December 31 | Details

Vermont Writers’ Prize
The Vermont Writers’ Prize is accepting essays, short stories, plays, or poems on the subject of Vermont: its people, its places, its history, or its values—the choice is yours! Entries must be unpublished and 1,500 words or less. The Writers' Prize is open to all Vermont residents and students except for employees of Green Mountain Power and Vermont Magazine. Please submit only one entry.
Deadline: January 1 | Details

The Frost Place Chapbook Competition
The competition is open to any poet writing in English. The selected winner’s chapbook will be published by Bull City Press in the summer following the competition. The winner receives 10 complimentary copies (from a print run of 300), a $250 prize, full scholarship to attend the Poetry Seminar at The Frost Place, including room and board, and gives a featured reading from the chapbook at the Seminar. $28 entry fee.
Deadline: January 5 | Details

Zig Zag Lit Mag Issue.10
Submissions are open for Issue.10 for those who live, labor, or loiter in Addison County, Vermont. Zig Zag accepts submissions in any genre and topic, including fiction, nonfiction, dramatic forms, and poetry. They also accept art. You can submit up to three pieces of writing and/or art.
Deadline: January 5 | Details

Crossroads Magazine
The independent, student-run magazine based out of Burlington, Vermont, accepts very short fiction and poetry, 300 words or fewer. Submissions should be in Word or typed directly into an email. No PDFs, please.
Deadline: rolling submissions | Details

Dartmouth Poet in Residence
The Frost Place’s Dartmouth Poet in Residence program is a six-to-eight-week residency in poet Robert Frost’s former farmhouse. The residency begins July 1 and ends August 15, and includes an award of $1,000 from The Frost Place and an award of $1,000 from Dartmouth College. The recipient of the Dartmouth Poet in Residence will have an opportunity to give a series of public readings across the region, including at Dartmouth College and The Frost Place.
Deadline: none given | Details

Green Mountains Review
GMR is accepting fiction and experimental and hybrid poems. The editors are open to a wide range of styles and subject matter. Please submit a cover letter and include up to 25 pages of prose or up to five poems. $3 submission fee.
Deadline: none given | Details

The Hopper
The environmental literary magazine from Green Writers Press, is accepting submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They are interested in work that offers new and different articulations of the human experience in nature, specifically nature writing that is psychologically honest about the environmental crisis and the impacts of mechanical modernity.
Deadline: none given | Details

Isele Magazine
Isele Magazine is seeking submissions of essays, fiction, poetry, art, and photography. You may submit up to 8,000 words of prose, six pages of poetry, or one long poem.
Deadline: rolling submissions | Details

Mount Island digital magazine
To focus on their mission of supporting rural LGBTQ+ and POC voices, most of the submission categories are open only to folks who identify as LGBTQ+ and/or POC and who currently live in or hail from a rural area. They do welcome “allies” who do not identify as LGBTQ+/POC/rural to submit in certain categories, such as interviews, reviews, and blog articles. When such categories are open for “ally submissions,” they are labeled clearly as such.
Deadline: open year-round | Details

Nightingale Review
Nightingale accepts and celebrate all types of literary creative expression from queer authors, including poetry, plays, general fiction, nonfiction essays, and book/movie/music reviews. Both established and unpublished authors welcome.
Deadline: none given | Details

Six-Word Quarantine Stories
Do you have a six-word story about your quarantine to share? Tell yours on social media with the hashtag #quarantinesix, and tag @vtartscouncil so they can share your story, too.
Deadline: none given | Details

Three By Five
Share a small moment—anonymously—that has altered the path of your life. Record it on a 3" x 5" card and mail it to PO Box 308, Etna, NH, 03750. Or, take a photo of your card and email it to .
Deadline: none | Details

Listening in Place Sound Archive
The Vermont Folklife Center invites you to send in recorded interviews and sounds of daily life in an effort to open hundreds of small windows into the experiences of Vermonters during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vermont Folklife Center will make these recordings available on their website and social media to foster connection and sharing, and will also archive the recordings for posterity.
Deadline: none | Details

Writing the Land
Writing the Land is a collaboration between local land trusts and poets to help raise awareness for the preservation of land, ecosystems, and biodiversity. Poets and land trusts are being enrolled on a rolling basis. They are especially seeking under-represented poetic and environmental voices, but welcome all poets at any stage of their career and would like everyone to contribute to this project. If you are an interested poet, please fill out the information in the contact form on their website or email Lis McLaughlin at . You will need to submit a 50- to 75-word third-person bio, three pieces of work, and list which locations or regions you are willing to travel to.
Deadline: rolling submissions | Details

Upcoming Workshops and Classes

Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop
Various dates and times
Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop offers a number of online creative writing workshops, including multi-week classes and one-day sessions. Among other workshops, they offer a free online gathering for writers of all levels and genres every first and third Friday of the month. These sessions are a great way to get back into the flow of your work in the supportive presence of other writers. Other workshops beginning in November are on topics that include fiction writing, creating characters, generative translation, memoir, narrative structure, hybrid forms, and much more.
Location: online | Cost: $30 to $275 | Details

Art Meets Expressive Writing Workshop with Vivian Ladd and Joni B. Cole
November 5, 5:30 to 7:00 pm
This workshop fuses explorations of works of art with fun and meaningful expressive writing exercises. No writing experience required, just a willing pen and curious mind.
Location: online | Cost: free | Details

Writing for Healing Workshop with Vicky Fish
Wednesdays, November 11 and 18, December 2, 9, and 16; 6:30 to 8:00 pm
This five-week workshop will create a safe and supportive environment for you to explore your healing through the written word. Through writing we discover and can recover parts of ourselves. Writing taps into our wise unconscious, where healing and hidden resources often reside. Through writing we have a chance to understand our stories and rewrite our stories. During each session, prompts will be offered as the springboard for in-session writing. Sharing will be encouraged but not required. Prompts will also be offered for your own writing between sessions. Preregister by contacting the instructor at .
Location: online | Cost: $165 |

The Fluidity of Memory: Finding Strength in Your Story
November 14, 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA Candidate Ruth Amara Okolo is offering a workshop that gives insights into the importance of creative nonfiction. Through an exploration of the elements of the genre, she presents an approach and technique to creating, writing memories that shows life in all its color, description, and realism.
Location: online | Cost: $25 to 65 | Details

Listening in Place - Thanksgiving Family Interviews
November 14: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Part of the Vermont Folklife Center’s Listening in Place initiative developed in response to COVID-19, this workshop covers the basics of recording interviews (online, over the phone or in person within your household if it’s safe to do so). It also introduces the VFC’s Sound Archive, where your interviews and documentary recordings may be submitted to be included in this open access, crowdsourced audio collection of Vermonters’ experiences of pandemic and 2020.
Location: online | Cost: by donation | Details

Everyday Poetry: Accessing the Poetry Within
November 15, 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
Enjoy the art of poetry with Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA Candidate Sara Stancliffe as she unearths why poetry is a life force and examines poetry as an essence. Prepare to demystify poetry in this workshop by beginning with a low-key discussion on what we think poetry is, where it shows up in our everyday lives, and how we might access poetry to elevate our everyday existence. In this workshop, we’ll share music and collectively enjoy sounds of rhythm. This will be a “come as you are” workshop where no prior poetic experience or vocabulary or even passion is needed.
Location: online | Cost: $25 to 65 | Details

Listening in Place - Building Conversations for Civic Action
December 5, 2:00 to 4:30 pm
This workshop focuses on the crises of 2020 as an opportunity to reflect and learn from the social unrest, vulnerabilities and sacrifices experienced across the state and nation. This workshop will introduce and demonstrate the tools of Listening in Place, an initiative of the Vermont Folklife Center, that was launched at the early stages of the pandemic as a way to share our common experience and to create a record of how Vermonters are responding to this unprecedented time. Now calls to support Black Lives Matter and pledge greater commitments to eradicate racism in all its forms have propelled many of us out of lockdown and to re-evaluate how we stand for justice for our communities. This workshop is an open call for anyone who desires to prioritize these concerns.
Location: online | Cost: by donation | Details

Inner & Outer Weather: Character in Fiction
December 12, 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
Join Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA Candidate Jonathan Calloway as he discusses how our stories’ characters, like ourselves, each carry a lifetime’s worth of experience, much of which the outer world is oblivious. Through generative writing exercises and close readings of excerpts from a wide range of fiction authors, you will investigate how perception can be used as a tool to shape evocative environments, sharpen focus, and redefine the boundary between the individual and the whole. You will have the opportunity to share and receive direct feedback from instructors and fellow participants, as well as acquire a set of tools to further your own unique explorations of the caverns of character development.
Location: online | Cost: $25 to 65 | Details

Rebecca Siegel

October 1, 2020

Calls for Submission, Deadlines, Events, Newsletter, Workshops, The Dipper

The Dipper - October 2020

Rebecca Siegel

October 1, 2020

Calls for Submission, Deadlines, Events, Newsletter, Workshops, The Dipper

October News

We are so pleased to bring you another great virtual author event in partnership with Hanover’s Still North Books. On October 14 at 7:30 pm, Sierra Crane Murdoch will be in conversation with Angela Evancie of VPR’s Brave Little State to discuss Sierra’s compelling nonfiction book, Yellow Bird.

Yellow Bird tells the story of Lissa Yellow Bird as she obsessively hunts for clues to the disappearance of Kristopher “KC” Clark, a young white oil worker who worked on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Drawing on eight years of immersive investigation, Sierra Crane Murdoch has produced a profound examination of the legacy of systematic violence inflicted on a tribal nation and a tale of extraordinary healing. Sierra and Angela’s conversation is bound to be riveting. Register today to attend!

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Alexandria Hall’s debut book of poetry, Field Music, will be published by Ecco on October 6. Alexandria is a poet and a musician from Vermont (and currently a PhD candidate in California). Publishers Weekly calls Field Music, “a striking debut…This atmospheric collection will transport readers to Hall’s layered landscapes.”

We are so fortunate that Alexandria agreed do to an interview with us, and we are equally fortunate that Rena J. Mosteirin enthusiastically agreed to pose the interview questions. The interview will be published on our site on Field Music’s publication day, October 6, so check our blog then.

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In Slow Club Book Club news, we recently announced the last book in our year of reading books by Canadian authors: Dionne Brand's 2018 hybrid poetry collection, The Blue Clerk. In this intriguing book—an Ars Poetica in 59 versos—Dionne Brand stages a conversation and an argument between the poet and the Blue Clerk, who is the keeper of the poet's pages.

A sampling of The Blue Clerk reveals its mesmerizing power. Listen to Dionne Brand read two of the prose poem versos on the Griffin Poetry Prize website (the book was shortlisted for the 2019 prize) and fall under its liquid language spell. We hope you decide to join us in reading The Blue Clerk beginning on October 15. If you do, please let us know; it's nice to know you're out there.

October’s Shooting Stars

A cool literary find from each of us to help light up your month!

First Wednesdays from Vermont Humanities are back, beginning October 7. This time around we are lucky to be able to listen to these lectures from our homes. I’m particularly excited to hear Jarvis Green’s lecture, “Atlantic Is a Sea of Bones” on November 7 We’ve posted the literary lectures from this series in our calendar of events. For the rest (including some really amazing topics from dance and Muhammad Ali to bird migration to food justice), please visit the Vermont Humanities website. —Shari
These days I often feel closed, tight, compressed into myself. I need reminders of expansiveness: drop the shoulders from my ears, breathe deeply. The other day I saw a link to a recording of Seamus Heaney reading “Postscript,” one of my favorites of his poems. Rereading it always blows me open, as the last line intends. Hearing Seamus’ own voice makes it even better.—Rebecca

October Highlights

Layli Long Soldier will read as part of the virtual Poetry at Bennington series on October 7 at 7:00 pm.

Samantha Kolber celebrates the release of her new chapbook, Birth of a Daughter, with a virtual event at Bear Pond Books on October 9 at 7:00 pm.

Sierra Crane Murdoch discusses her book Yellow Bird with Brave Little State’s Angela Evancie via Still North Books & Bar on October 14 at 7:30 pm.

The Brattleboro Literary Festival takes place virtually this year from October 16 to 18, featuring writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Jason Lutes appears as a part of Virtual Bookstock 2020 on October 15 at 7:00 pm.

Phil Klay will read and discuss his latest novel, Missionaries, on October 16 at 7:00 pm. This online event is presented by both The Norwich Bookstore and Still North Books & Bar.

603: The Writers’ Conferences is online this year on October 17 from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm, with featured speaker Brunonia Barry.

Charles Simic gives a virtual reading sponsored by the Poetry Society of New Hampshire and Gibson’s Bookstore on October 20 at 7:00 pm.

Visit our calendar for detailed information about these events and more!

Worth a Listen

Artwork by Sludge Thunder — *Artwork by* *Sludge Thunder*

Daniel Hornsby speaks about his debut, Via Negativa, on Marginalia. His new novel was recently recommended by Lauren Groff on Twitter.
On the Slow Stories podcast, Sanaë Lemoine discusses her writing process for her debut, The Margot Affair.
Middlebury grad Bianca Giaever has a wonderful new podcast for The Believer called Constellation Prize. Five episodes about strangers, religion, poetry, and art are available now.
Dustin Schell and Alexander Chee (curators of the Still Queer reading series) were featured on Christine Lee’s podcast, Front Yard Politics, talking about gardening during the pandemic.

We're Looking Forward to These October Releases

Mantel Pieces, by Hilary Mantel (Fourth Estate, October 1)
Leave the World Behind, by Rumaan Alam (Ecco, October 6)
The Hole, by Hiroko Oyamada, translated by David Boyd (New Directions, October 6)
The Superationals, by Stephanie La Cava (Semiotext(e)/Native Agents, October 13)
Kant’s Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I write, by Claire Messud (W.W. Norton & Company, October 13)
The Century, by Éireann Lorung (Milkweed Editions, October 13)
The Silence, by Don DeLillo (Scribner, October 20)
Divorcing, by Susan Taubes (NYRB Classics, October 27)
Memorial, by Bryan Washington (Riverhead, October 27)

Calls For Submission and Upcoming Deadlines

Hunger Mountain Issue 25: Art Saves
Send your manifestos and rhetoric, your stories and poems, your essays and forays into justifying art as an answer to—and escape from?—these trying times: pandemics, forest fires, catastrophe, white-supremacy, murder, burning buildings as the only way to be heard, and fascism. Please submit prose of no more than 8,000 words, or up to three flash pieces all in one document; for poetry, 1 to 5 poems all in one file.
Deadline: October 15 | Details

Sundog Poetry Center’s First or Second Book Award Prize for a Vermont Poet
Sundog Poetry Center is pleased to announce the inaugural book award for a first or second poetry manuscript, in partnership with Green Writers Press, who will design, print and distribute the book nationwide. The final judge is Vermont Poet Laureate Mary Ruefle. A cash prize of $500 will be awarded along with 50 copies. Manuscripts should be between 48 and 64 pages. All submissions must be authored by a poet who resides in Vermont; proof of residency will be requested along with a $20 application fee.
Deadline: October 31 | Details

Sunken Garden Chapbook Prize for Poetry
Tupelo Press’ Sunken Garden Prize seeks submissions of previously unpublished, chapbook-length poetry manuscripts. The prize is open to anyone writing in the English language. This year’s judge is Mark Bibbins. The winner receives a $1000 cash prize, in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, 25 copies of the winning title, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion.
Deadline: October 31 | Details

Bennington Unbound
October 15 to December 15
These four-week intensive online courses in fiction and nonfiction (October 15 to November 15, and November 15 to December 15) are geared toward current college and college-ready students considering an academic gap year or looking to supplement their current coursework. The courses are taught by Bennington’s award-winning graduate and undergraduate writing and literature faculty. Weekly live video class meetings foster an intimate seminar experience. Web-based discussion forums and unique multimedia resources extend the classroom community. All students will write both creatively and critically. Students earn one college credit per course.
Deadline: one week prior to the beginning of each course | Cost: $600/course | Details

The Dorset Prize for Poetry
Tupelo Press’ Dorset Prize is seeking submissions of previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscripts. The prize is open to anyone writing in the English language. This year’s judge is Tyehimba Jess. The winner receives at $3000 cash prize and a week-long residency at MASS MoCA, in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, 20 copies of the winning title, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion.
Deadline: December 31 | Details

Junction Magazine Editorial Board
If you're passionate about the vibrant community of the Upper Valley, and showcasing the myriad cultures that exist here, consider joining the Junction Magazine Editorial Board. Their areas of coverage are Arts and Culture, Food and Farm, People, and the Wild. Editors meet bi-weekly, and share pitching, writing, editing, and layout duties, as well as the (small) financial cost of the website and hosting.
Deadline: none given |

Upcoming Workshops and Classes

Horace Greeley Writers’ Symposium
October 17, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Aspiring writers, published authors welcome. Writing workshops, networking, Q&A, and more. Location: United Baptist Church, East Poultney | Cost: $65 adults; $20 students | Details

Expressive Writing with Vivian Ladd and Joni B. Cole
November 5, 5:30 to 7:00 pm
This workshop fuses explorations of works of art with fun and meaningful expressive writing exercises. No writing experience required, just a willing pen and curious mind.
Location: online | Cost: free | Details

Rebecca Siegel

July 24, 2020

Interview

Interview: James Crews

Rebecca Siegel

July 24, 2020

Interview

James Crews is a wonderful poet and a kind soul. We feel so lucky that he joined us for the very first Poetry & Pie and even more fortunate that he shared an advanced copy of Bluebird (out now from Green Writers Press) with us.

If you need a book to quiet your mind and wake you up to the beauty of the world all around you, look no further. Bluebird is a beautiful book filled with poems on silence, kindness, neighbors, rural life, nature, and relationships, and it’s the perfect companion for our current times. Thank you, James, for taking the time to talk to us about Bluebird!

p.s. We recently hosted a writing workshop with James and are delighted to be partnering with him to present his latest workshop: Radical Gratitude and Embodied Writing. This six-week long workshop begins on August 22. Space is limited and there are just a couple spots left. For more details and to register, please visit the workshop page. (Workshop has filled! Thanks for your interest.)

Literary North: Could you talk about the process of organizing the poems in Bluebird and how you chose to divide the book into three sections?

James Crews: I love organizing poems into a book form—it's one of my favorite parts of the process—and I spend a lot of time and attention ensuring that each poem flows into the next. Besides the individual drafts that the poems went through, I probably assembled and re-assembled this book at least ten times to get it just right. This is tough to explain, since it's mostly an intuitive process, but I do my best to listen to the poems, feel how they're talking to one another, and then look for larger pauses within the manuscript to divide the book into several parts. I also work as a creative coach, helping others put together their books, and it’s the most fun I have working one-on-one with folks.

LN: Part One of Bluebird begins with a quote from Maimonides: “We are like someone in a very dark night over whom lightning flashes again and again.” What do these words mean to you and why did you choose to use this quote to start off your collection?

JC: There are a lot of different threads going in Bluebird, but one of the main threads for me is the practice of mindfulness—and here, I almost wrote “the struggle of mindfulness.” I wrote most of the poems in this book after I had just taken a leap and moved to Vermont to be with my now-husband. I didn't have a regular job at first, so I took that opportunity to try and deepen my meditation and mindfulness practice. Since I see my writing as part of my spirituality, of course the concerns seeped into the poems as well. The Maimonides quote appealed to me because I think we put far too much pressure on ourselves both as creatives and as spiritual practitioners. We seem to think the point is to reach this place of unbroken presence and equanimity in the writing and/or the spiritual practice, but that seeking of perfection rubs against our flawed human nature. So I feel that all I (and we) can ever really hope for are “flashes" of insight and understanding, fleeting moments of presence when we're able to touch into the deeper world around us and within us. On a practical level, I also felt that epigraph fit perfectly with the first poem in the collection, “Fireflies," which says essentially the same thing. Some insights come like lightning . . . while others arrive as firefly flashes. In our lives, there are mostly these smaller revelations or flashes, and though we might be tempted to look past them, they can add up to a life lived fully, if we've been paying enough attention to them.

LN: Your poems “Night-Dweller” and “Adoration” both begin with quotes by Mary Oliver. Many of the poems in Bluebird bring her work to mind. How has Mary Oliver’s work inspired you and your writing?

JC: Not long after I first moved to Vermont, I was drawn to Mary Oliver's work, and would check out book after book by her from the Bennington College library. I know that a lot of Vermont writers feel the influence of Frost, but Oliver has been a far larger influence on my work. I would read her poems in the morning, then go out for long walks and encounter some of the plants and animals with which she was communing in her own work, so I began to feel this close kinship with her. I wasn't surprised to learn that she taught at Bennington College for a while (just about ten minutes from where we live in Shaftsbury), and lived on-campus there. Though some might think her poems too easy or accessible, I think that her welcoming and open-armed embrace of her connection to the natural world serves as an example for all of us poets. I once heard Mark Doty say at a reading that although he loves Oliver's poems, his one complaint is that she only includes the more positive aspects of nature, seldom discussing the presence of trash trucks, or the roar of a jet passing overhead, for instance. That's never bothered me. I see her poems as aspirational in a way, urging us to go outside, and pay kind, loving attention to whatever world is around us.

LN: We couldn’t help but notice the repeated appearance of the word “claim” in several of your poems (for example in “Living Light,” “Claim,” and “Spotted Wing Drosophila”). Though the poem “Orb Weaver” doesn’t explicitly use the word, we can sense it below the surface. Can you speak about how you were playing with many facets of the word such as claiming time, claiming joy, and staking a claim?

JC: The recurrence of the word, “claim," was completely accidental, so I appreciate you all pointing it out to me! It does seem important because anytime we enter a new life (relocating, getting married, starting a new job), we have to claim more and more of who we are. That's part of the self-discovery process that happens as we grow. I've struggled over the years too with “claiming" my identity as a poet, believing that my voice had anything worthwhile to add to the larger conversation. I often hesitated to share poems for fear people would think I was bragging or simply “self-promoting,” but as I got in touch with my own intentions for writing poetry (to connect more deeply to myself and the world around me), I grew less fearful of sharing them.

“Claim” is a central poem in the collection too, in that I'm urging myself and others at the same time to find joy even in the plainer moments of life, even in the experiences we'd rather not welcome, like checking ourselves for ticks. What a pleasurable experience that could be if we didn't allow the labels or annoyance to get in the way—not that I always succeed. Yet it's an essential part of living the fullest life possible, embracing the so-called positive and negative aspects all at the same time. Especially during these uncertain times, if I can both name and claim my fear and anxiety, it comes out of hiding and has less power over me.

LN: Your last book was Healing the Divide: Poems for Kindness and Connection. These themes of kindness and connection continue in Bluebird, most strikingly in the poems “Neighbors” and “Kindness.” The poem “Neighbors” feels particularly apt at this moment when there is an obvious need to help and protect each other. Yet there is a need to be separate as an act of kindness, in order to protect each other. Would you share your thoughts about the forms that neighborliness and kindness can take and how kindness “keeps us alive”? When was the last time an act of kindness moved you?

JC: Since editing Healing the Divide, and leading quite a few workshops around that book, I've grown attuned to the presence of the many kindnesses in my life: notes from readers about poems I've written, my mom-in-law handing us a jar of pasta sauce she made, a good friend offering me the use of her office as a quiet space while she's out of town. One of my neighbors recently left a note (on a blue notecard!) about Bluebird on our screened porch. Because of distancing, I had left a copy of the book in her mailbox, and so we had this wonderful exchange about the book that culminated in a little chat in her front yard. I was so moved that she took the trouble to drive all the way to my house and leave the kind note.

I also agree that a poem like “Neighbors" feels very apt right now because I do believe that so-called “small kindnesses" keep us healthy and connected with each other. Many of us are having to be more creative about how we facilitate and find our connections, and how we might help other people in need, but it takes so little to brighten someone's day. Someone told me about finding painted rocks that a neighbor's child leaves outside his door, which moved him to tears because of how much he misses his children. Stories like these are all around us now, and they can be a balm in the face of such negative news.

LN: What is your relationship to silence, as a human and as a writer? Do you have recommendations on ways to encourage more silence in our own lives?

JC: I seem to need a certain amount of silence in my life in order to thrive as a writer, and as a human being. I've always loved working in silence best, and will often wear earplugs just to inhabit a deeper silence and stillness while I'm working or reading. I do think there are some practical ways to invite more silence into our lives. Unless I need the ringer on, I turn off all sounds on my phone, and I won't let my computer announce new messages, emails, or notifications. On the days that I can, I also try to preserve a certain amount of mental silence each morning by meditating with my husband as soon as we wake up and waiting for hours before checking my phone or diving into email. I also try not to read emails/messages or use the internet past 8:00 pm each night. That time is also reserved for meditation and/or reading in order to let the noise of the day (and my busy mind) fall away. It can take a lot of discipline to keep all this up, and I fail plenty, yet I notice that when I'm able to leave these gaps and spaces, I'm just so much calmer and happier, even during this pandemic. Though I'm a former news junkie, I've also had to limit how much news (very little for me) I'm willing to take in each day, and certainly not in the morning when the mind is still fresh and free.

LN: We were struck by the final lines of “Milkweed”: “just when we start to believe / you can’t possibly be that delicate / and still survive in this world.” That the world is full of intricate delicacy is a wonder given how harsh the conditions sometimes are. Can you talk about ways we can be delicate in a world that doesn’t always value that quality?

JC: Our heads don't value delicacy and gentleness, yet our hearts crave it. I think that noticing when we're inhabiting that harsh space —being hard on ourselves as well as the people in our lives—can keep us in touch with the delicacy I talk about in “Milkweed." Certainly, many of us are finding refuge in the natural world, with its promise that —in spite of the immense shifts caused by climate change—it can still provide us with a respite from the daily uncertainties. I think I was also talking about myself in those lines, at least on days when I feel so delicate and breakable that the wrong word or a single news story can send me spinning off into a rabbit-hole of worry and fear. Yet the more we honor who we are with gentleness and acceptance, the more we build resilience.

LN: Which books are bringing you comfort right now (old friends or new discoveries)?

JC: Writers and Lovers by Lily King is a wonderful, recently published novel; Bonfire Opera by Danusha Lameris and Indigo by Ellen Bass are two collections of poetry I can't live without right now. I also thought that Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was a great novel and engaging story, as well as an invitation into a closer and more delicate relationship with the natural world. It kept reminding me to step outside, walk through the farm fields around our house, and allow myself just to be with all the bittersweet vines and goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace still insistently growing.

James Crews’ work has appeared in Ploughshares, Raleigh Review, Crab Orchard Review and The New Republic, as well as on Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry newspaper column, and he is a regular contributor to The London Times Literary Supplement. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a PhD in Writing & Literature from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The author of two collections of poetry, The Book of What Stays (Prairie Schooner Prize and Foreword Book of the Year Citation, 2011) and Telling My Father (Cowles Prize, 2017), Crews is also co-editor of several anthologies of poetry, including Healing the Divide: Poems of Kinship and Connection. He leads Mindfulness & Writing workshops and retreats throughout the country and works as a writing coach with groups and individuals. He lives with his husband, Brad Peacock, in Shaftsbury, Vermont.

Rebecca Siegel

April 1, 2020

Calls for Submission, Deadlines, Events, Newsletter, Workshops, The Dipper

The Dipper - April 2020

Rebecca Siegel

April 1, 2020

Calls for Submission, Deadlines, Events, Newsletter, Workshops, The Dipper

April news

Since most public events have been rescheduled or canceled in the interest of keeping people healthy, we’ve removed events from our calendar that we know to be canceled or postponed. Additionally, we’ve omitted the “Highlights,” “Worth a Drive,” and “Workshops” sections from this month’s newsletter.

We’re just beginning to add events that have moved online. Since things are changing rapidly, please check with the event’s organizer or hosting venue to get the very latest details. If you know of virtual literary events we might include, please let us know.

Support your favorite indie bookstore

While April 25 is typically Independent Bookstore Day, this year’s celebration has been pushed back to August 29. Even though bookstores are closed to regular browsing and shopping right now, our independent booksellers are still on the job!

You can support these wonderful businesses as they navigate this difficult time by ordering books or gift certificates online or by phone. Visit your favorite indie bookstore website to find out how to order books to be shipped to you.

Consider ordering books that have been recently released or pre-ordering coming releases. Authors of those books need your support, particularly as they’re not able to do in-person readings and other events.

Audiobook lovers, sign up for Libro.fm, an audio book service where 100% of the profits go to your local bookstore. You can also gift friends an audio book!

Stay creative, connected, and kind

It’s no surprise that writers, musicians, and other artists locally and around the world are using their creativity to figure out new ways to connect, share, and create art. We know your inboxes are as stuffed as ours with ways to connect and create during this period of self isolation. Here are a select few ideas and resources we think are worth mentioning. If you know of something we should share with our readers, please let us know.

Many writing groups and book groups are holding their sessions online. You can too! Use an online video service for real-time interaction, or simply send emails or texts to the group. Our Slow Club Book Club is still in service and will continue to be so all year.
Dive into a thick novel. Yiyun Li and A Public Space are leading a worldwide group in reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Maybe it’s finally time to read that copy of Moby-Dick or Remembrance of Things Past collecting dust on your shelf. Or, if you didn’t get to it earlier, you could pick up Ducks, Newburyport and follow along with our Read Along.
Our local online chroniclers are really stepping up to help spread useful information about what’s going on in the area, sharingonline resources for everything from readings to music to film. A few of our favorites include Junction Magazine (see their Social Distancing Resources page), Susan Apel’s Artful blog, and Rob Gurwitt’s weekday Daybreak newsletter.
Participate in an online creative writing project. We know of two very new local projects:
- The Decameron: stories from the pandemic: Created by Courtney Cook, this project publishes poetry and short stories (max 1500 words). For more information and to submit, please visit the The Decameron project website.
- Constellation: Ekphrasis: Our own new community writing project, which will publish short poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and hybrid pieces inspired by art, music, and sound. For more information and to submit, please visit the Constellation: Ekphrasis page.
Sew masks for our health care workers. If you know how to sew and are healthy, please help our first line of defense stay safe. All the information and instructions are on the Dartmouth-Hitchcock website.
Be kind and patient with yourself and others. Take a breath. Take a walk. Send a card or a text. We’re thinking of all of you and sending our very best wishes for your health and safety.

Happy National Poetry Month!

We’ll be featuring a few interviews this month starting with Montreal poet Sarah Wolfson, whose first book of poetry, A Common Name for Everything, came out from Green Writers Press in 2019. Sarah’s interview is on our blog as of today. You can look forward to interviews with Susan Barba, James Crews, and Didi Jackson in the upcoming weeks.

Although several of PoemCity Montpelier’s events have been canceled, they are busy moving many events online, including a reading by Richard Blanco on April 3, workshops by Richard Blanco and Sydney Lea, and a worldwide reading event on April 18. Please check the PoemCity website often for updates.

New on the Literary North blog

We have a few new guest posts on our blog this month, including a Friday Reads review from Michael Epstein, who helms the BookMarks website and puts out a regular newsletter (his recent newsletter subject was “Books for Sheltering in Place”).

In addition, our friend, Taylor Mardis Katz, has a new original poem titled “Love in the time of coronavirus” that she allowed us to share.

Little Dipper III

We’re making steady progress on Little Dipper III. We’ve selected the pieces to include, decided upon an order, chosen the title, and the author, Mary Kane, has selected the thread color—clove brown! Molly Papows of Junction Magazine will be working on a story about the creation of these little chapbooks, so you’ll be able to follow along behind the scenes. Production will be slow as Dartmouth’s Book Arts Workshop is currently closed, but we’ll begin printing covers and stitching books as soon as we’re able. As always, we’ll keep you posted as details emerge.

.com to .org reminder

Finally, a reminder that the Literary North URL will officially change for good in June 2020. If you haven’t already done so, please update your bookmarks to literarynorth.org.

April’s Shooting Stars

A cool literary find from each of us to help light up your month!

If you are feeling overwhelmed or anxious, please check out “A Listening Care Package for Uncertain Times” a selection of audio from the podcast On Being. Featuring words of wisdom and comfort from Teju Cole, Rebecca Solnit, Ross Gay, and Joy Harjo. —Shari
Vicki Ziegler is a voracious reader, book reviewer, lover of poetry, and social media manager. For many years, she’s been spreading the love of poetry through #TodaysPoem on Twitter. She and readers around the world share a poem a day, and sometimes more. Her taste is wide-ranging and always excellent. —Rebecca

Worth a listen

Such a lovely conversation between Hisham Matar and Eleanor Wachtel on Writers & Company about his latest nonfiction book, A Month in Siena
Louise Erdrich on Fresh Air speaking about her latest novel, The Night Watchman
Thresholds podcast hosted by writer Jordan Kisner and produced by Justin Alvarez and Drew Broussard (of So Many Damn Books fame)

WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THESE APRIL RELEASES

geode, by Susan Barba (Black Sparrow Press, April 7)
Starling Days, by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan (The Overlook Press, April 7)
Bluebird, by James Crews (Green Writers Press, April 7)
How Much of These Hills is Gold, by C. Pam Zhang (Riverhead, April 7)
What You Become in Flight, by Ellen O’Connell Whittet (Melville House, April 14)
The Eighth Life, by Nino Haratischvili, translated by Charlotte Collins (Scribe US, April 14)
What is the Grass: Walt Whitman in my Life, by Mark Doty (W. W. Norton & Company, April 14)
Moon Jar, by Didi Jackson (Red Hen Press, April 21)
Death in Her Hands, by Ottessa Moshfegh (Penguin, April 21)

Calls for submission and upcoming deadlines

Zig Zag Lit Mag Issue 7½
Accepting prose, poetry, rants, recipes, jokes, cartoons, photographs, art—anything that can be represented in two-dimensions in black-and-white. Issue 7½ will be an entirely free digital issue. This issue is not limited to Addison County, so folks from all over can feel free to submit as well!
Deadline: April 6 | Details

Free Verse Farm Residency
In honor of the poetry that's a part of their farm name (and the inspiration for how they plant, tend, and blend the herbs they grow), Free Verse Farm in Chelsea, Vermont, has established a self-directed residency for poets and writers and makers of small artworks. This offering is for those who seek a quiet, secluded place to live and work, residing for a week amidst the herbs, vegetables, and wild fauna of a rural Vermont farm. $250/week.
Deadline: April 15 | Details

CATV Virtual Poetry Fest
Video record yourself reciting a poem and email it to CATV. They will compile and air all entries on local cable television and on CATV’s internet outlets at the end of April.
Deadline: April 20 | Details

Frost Place 2020 Gregory Pardlo Scholarship
The Gregory Pardlo Scholarship for Emerging African American Poets scholarship is open to African American poets writing in English who have published up to one book of poetry. The winner will receive a full scholarship to attend the Poetry Seminar (July 2020) at The Frost Place, in Franconia, New Hampshire (including room and board), and will give a featured reading at the Seminar.
Deadline: April 24 | Details

Frost Place 2020 Latinx Scholarship
This scholarship is designed to encourage the LatinX voice in poetry and the literary arts, both at The Frost Place and in the broader literary community. The winner will receive a full fellowship to attend the Conference on Poetry at The Frost Place (July 2020) in Franconia, New Hampshire, (including tuition, room, board, and travel). The ideal applicant would self-identify as LatinX, would have a strong commitment to the Latin@ community, and be a minimum of 21 years of age.
Deadline: April 24 | Details

Tupelo Press Berkshire Prize
The Berkshire Prize for a First or Second Book of Poetry includes a cash award of $3,000 in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, 20 copies of the winning title, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion. Manuscripts are judged anonymously and all finalists will be considered for publication. $30 reading fee.
Deadline: April 30 | Details

603: Writers’ “Sit and Click” Teleconference
Registration is open for this year’s online conference (October 17). The day-long event features classes, panels, and inspiration for New Hampshire authors and writers. This year’s theme is “The Paths to Publishing.” The keynote speaker is Brunonia Barry. $125 for New Hampshire Writers’ Project members; $145 for non-members; $100 for teachers; $50 for students with valid ID.
Deadline: May 2 | Details

Juniper Summer Writing Institute
Applications are open for the 2020 Juniper Summer Writing Institute (June 14 to 20) in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Juniper Summer Writing Institute is an inclusive literary space that welcomes adult poets and writers at all stages of their careers. Acceptance to the Institute is based upon the strength and promise of the writing sample. $40 non-refundable application fee.
Deadline: May 15 | Details

Ten-Minute Playwriting Contest
Sponsored by the Shaker Bridge Theatre, write a play between one and ten minutes in length with two or three characters. Your play can be serious, it can be a comedy, can be realistic, can be absurdist, etc. There are no limits to or restrictions on the style. Plays will be place on the they will be placed (anonymously) on the theatre’s website for everyone to read. SBT will pick the best plays and they will be presented in public. staged readings at the theatre over one weekend next fall.
Deadline: May 15 | Details

Meetinghouse
Meetinghouse, a new literary journal from Dartmouth College, is accepting submissions for their inaugural issue. They accept up to three pieces of prose or six poems per submission, up to 7500 words. They prefer unpublished work.
Deadline: July 1 | Details

Campground
Applications are open for Campground, a week-long poetry / poetry-hybrid intensive of workshops, crafts sessions, readings, and panels hosted by the Ruth Stone House (September 1 to 7) in Goshen, Vermont. The week’s events will be led by writers including Ariana Reines, CAConrad, Dorothea Lasky, Airea D. Matthews, and Bianca Stone. $35 application fee. Tuition from $1350 to $1750.
Deadline: August 1 | Details

Center for Cartoon Studies, MFA Degree and Certificate Programs
CCS is accepting applications for the MFA, and one- and two-year certificate programs. Learn all you need to know about making comics and self-publishing in a prolific and dynamic environment and community. $50 application fee.
Deadline: rolling admissions until programs are filled | Details

Junction Magazine
Junction Magazine invites submissions about arts and culture, food and farm, people, the wild, photo essays, and events for their event calendar.
Deadline: rolling submissions | Details

Listening in Place
In response to the COVID-19 emergency, the Vermont Folklife Center has initiated two new projects: the creation of a crowd-sourced Sound Archive to document our daily experiences during the pandemic, and a series of online Virtual Story Circles, where Vermonters can gather remotely to listen and share during these challenging times.
Deadline: none | Details

Phoenix Books Howard Frank Mosher Scholarship
Vermont College of Fine Arts and Phoenix Books offers an annual $10,000 scholarship to a Vermont fiction writer entering the MFA in Writing & Publishing program at VCFA. This award honors late author Howard Frank Mosher and is applied only to the student’s first year of study. The recipient must be a current Vermont resident at the time of their application.
Deadline: rolling | Details

Shari Altman

April 1, 2020

Interview

Interview: Sarah Wolfson

Shari Altman

April 1, 2020

Interview

Happy National Poetry Month! To kick off the month, we are excited to share an interview with Montreal poet Sarah Wolfson. Her book, A Common Name for Everything, was published by Green Writers Press in September of 2019. We hope you enjoy the interview as much as we enjoyed Sarah’s book!

Literary North: Could you tell us a little about your writing process? What are some different ways that you approach writing a new poem?

Sarah Wolfson: I think of my process as looking outward to look inward. But I could also say listening outward to look inward, because often my poems are sparked by the sound of something I hear or read. I believe we should be continually poised for the noticing, so I try to exist in a state of meditative expectancy, to borrow Carolyn Forché’s term, a state of being primed to notice whatever might present itself. And then, in the writing of a poem, I let my intuition guide me through what this noticing tells me about myself or about our collective selves.

LN: Describe the process of gathering poems for A Common Name for Everything. Did the organization of the book change as you worked on it?

SW: The organization of the book changed several times, partly because the poems were written over a long time period and different themes emerged as the collection grew and changed. Reorganizations took into account various themes that were emerging, and my excellent editors at Green Writers Press helped me see how the section titles could bring a stronger coherence to the book.

LN: The subject of many of your poems is language and what we call the things in our world. Can you describe your feelings about the process and the power of naming things?

SW: What interests me is how we often experience the world before we have names for its matter—but also how we sometimes experience the world through its names. Spagnum. Mullosk. Even though these things don’t exist in front of me in daily life, the songs of their names do. Naming is something we try to get exactly right—think of science with all of its taxonomies—but ultimately the thing and its name may inform each other in completely surprising ways—or not all. So, while naming is important, it’s always somehow erratic—and therefore full of potential for astonishment.

LN: Many of your poems are about childbirth and motherhood. Are there any poets, writers, or artists that address motherhood in ways that you find interesting, challenging or exciting?

SW: Alicia Jo Rabins’ book of poems Fruit Geode immediately comes to mind. It’s visceral and deeply honest. In Rabins’ poems the physical messiness and emotional ecstasy of pregnancy and childbirth coexist so naturally. Her poems are themselves geode-like: small and packed with sharp and startling crystals. I couldn’t put it down. I also recently enjoyed Day Counter, by Sara Mumolo, which is a sort of poetic daybook of the early years of parenting. Where Rabins is ecstatic, Mumolo is droll. And I just finished reading Camille Dungy’s memoir, Guidebook to Relative Strangers, which explores mothering, nature, race, and community in profoundly moving ways.

LN: We're curious about the mammoth who appears in "The Mammoth" and then again in "An Unfunded Study of Milking and the Moon," both poems related to birth. Can you tell us about the connection between mothering and mammoths?

SW: I’ve always been interested in “creature-ness.” It’s an impulse that predates this book. And in the book, you see creatures of all kinds: sheep, waxwings, ants, tree crabs, red-winged black birds, mollusks, moose. But I think the mammoth, in particular, recurs because of its earthiness and weight, both physically and as a vehicle for imaginative power. There’s something about the way the strange and the mundane overlap in its body that distills my experience of motherhood.

LN: Are there any books on your radar that you'd like to share with our readers?

SW: I can’t stop recommending Amy Leach’s Things That Are, a book of lyric essays—or maybe prose poems—on natural themes. It transcends genre and is sparklingly strange and wonderful. Her essays have titles like “When Trees Dream of Being Trees” and “Please Do Not Yell at the Sea Cucumber.” They are an absolute consideration of the here and now. I’m also looking forward to reading two newish books from the Canadian poetry scene: Billy-Ray Belcourt’s NDN Coping Mechanisms and Karen Solie’s The Caiplie Caves.

Sarah Wolfson is the author of the poetry collection A Common Name for Everything (Green Writers Press, 2019). Her poems have appeared in Canadian and American journals including AGNI, The Fiddlehead, Michigan Quarterly Review, and TriQuarterly. She holds an MFA from the University of Michigan. Originally from Vermont, she now lives in Montreal, where she teaches writing at McGill University.