by Jessica Bell Jessica Bell’s new poetry collection is a captivating love letter from a mother to her young son. The dynamic free verse captures that special bond with sincerity absence sentimentality; raw beauty unmarred by polish; and humor seamlessly entwined with reality. Brilliantly devoid of over-explanation, the poems are eminently accessible. Each creates an energy-filled space that allows you to feel what you’re feeling and ascribe the meaning you find. The images c

Poet Vogue Robinson, author of Vogue 3:16 On Sunday I had the pleasure of doing a 30-min. reading of Winter Light and a Q&A session with the Henderson Writers Group in Las Vegas. Then I got to hear two other writers do the same. One of them was poet Vogue Robinson. (I’ll post about Brett Riley and his newest book at another date.) What a treat! Vogue’s poetry reflects her demeanor: emotionally accessible. The way she read her ode to British singer Amy Winehouse, who died of a

by Phill Provance Coming Sept. 29, 2020, preorder I received an advanced reader copy (ARC) of veteran poet Phill Provance’s first full-length collection. I was immediately delighted with the book, which amounts to a meaty, accessible memoir of a man’s life written via poetry. Fascinating! Though I read poetry almost every day, most people are leery of the form, believing poetry to be too high-brow and only for those who’ve taken courses in that realm. That’s absolutely wrong-

by Bauke Kamstra Simplicity is difficult for almost everyone, and especially us writers. We take a simple concept and allow other distractions to crowd in: adjectives and adverbs; side stories and backstories; trifles, that though beautiful, should be cut. But poet Bauke Kamstra doesn’t fall prey to such dead weight. In his Passion Demands a Vocabulary of Desire, Vol. 3, he exerts a breathtaking discipline of 1 idea + few words = a thought that will stick with you all day. —I