Festival of Women’s Poetry

I have, with more than a little help from my friends (thank you, Terry), put up a new poetry page in honor of the First Annual Festival of Women’s Poetry, a month-long celebration of women’s poetry put together as a collective effort by the women of Wom-Po, otherwise referred to as womponies. I invite you to take a look around over there — you’ll find poems galore, readings, interviews, a bookstore, fora, and writing challenges. Some of it is restricted to list members but a good bit of it is open to the public.

A tremendous effort for which I thank Moira Richards, Louisa Howerow, and Shayla Mollahan, among others.

The new page features “Skin Out A Woman,” my poem in Letters to the World, the Wom-Po anthology available from Red Hen Press. You’ll also find a link on the page to a reading of the poem — or you can click on this link to hear the reading. “Skin Out a Woman” was originally published in my Finishing Line chapbook, Dance the Black-Eyed Girl, which is also available for purchase.

Letters to the World is 400 pages of poems and essays in English from an international cast of women writing in all poetic disciplines: spoken word, experimental, formal etc. It has 259 contributors from 19 countries and 5 continents. It sells for the very reasonable price of $25 and would make a great Christmas gift.

Check out my new page. Check out Letters to the World. Check out the Festival.

I think I may try the daily ekphrastic poetry challenge. I also plan to check out the 30 days of wompo’s favourite poems collected by Georgia Banks-Martin , a daily appreciation. Today’s leadoff poem is Alice Notley’s “Synchronous Chronology,” selected and with a short essay by Elizabeth Kate Switaj.