Tidbits of This and That

Click Cover for Amazon

I am very fortunate to have received two new reviews for The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop. Both reviews are beautiful. And both came in December, like gifts. The first is by Christine Swint, posted at her site, Balanced on the Edge. Included in the review is this lovely comment:
Because there are so many poems by innovative, contemporary poets, The Crafty Poet is more than a portable workshop; it is an anthology of poems written in the kind of fresh, rich, and lively language we writers want to emulate. . . Read the full review HERE.

I was also tickled to see that Christine subsequently made good on her vow to get using the prompts for her own poetry and posted about her experience with the Sonnenizio, a form covered in my book. Read about it HERE.

The second review is by Christina Veladota and is posted at her site, maybesopoetry. She says, among other things:
The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop is an essential text for any poet. Diane Lockward has curated for us an abundant collection of inspirations and advice, and together with her many noteworthy contributors she succeeds in “making the day with nothing to say a thing of the past.” Read the full review HERE.

In publication news I have a poem, “Shopping at the Short Hills Malls,” in the December issue of The Cortland Review, one of the oldest online poetry journals and I think the first to include audios of each poet reading the poems. I’m particularly pleased to be in this issue as each editor was invited to solicit work from one poet. Editors were each asked to invite a poet whose poems they liked and who they felt was making some kind of contribution to the larger poetry community. My appreciation goes to editor Amy MacLennan, the Managing Editor.

I also have a new poem in the current issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review. While my publication in The Cortland Review was my debut there, VPR editor Ed Byrne has kindly included my work several times. The poem in the current issue is called “Sweet Images,” and is a form poem, a form I really liked working with.

Finally, I have a new poem, “And Life Goes On As It Has Always Gone On,” in the latest issue of the print journal, burntdistrict. Like most print journals, this one pays only with a contributor’s copy. But editor Jen Lambert also offered contributors with new books the opportunity to send a full-page ad. That was, to me, worth more than the minimal fee that a handful of journals are able to offer.

Crafty Poet Update and Good Cheer

An Aspiring Poet

I am so pleased with the response that The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop has thus far received. One good thing about having 101 different poets in the book is that I have a lot of ambassadors spreading the word. The book has recently had a nice handful of new reviews.

Poet Lynn Domina has created a wonderful blog where she does reviews of poetry books. This past week she included a review of The Crafty Poet which she describes as "both craft book and anthology, but its unique characteristic is the direct relationship between the included poems and the exercises." The entire review delighted me, but these closing words made my day: "Reading through this book, I find myself torn by competing desires: to linger over many of the poems, and to rush to my desk to try the prompts. A book that inspires me to do more than is possible—what a good book that is. I’m glad The Crafty Poet found its way to my hands, and I’m looking forward to leafing through my notebook in a year or so, counting up the poems that owe their conception to this book."

I was recently interviewed by Carol Berg about The Crafty Poet. That interview now appears in the current issue of Ithaca Lit. I enjoyed sitting back and reflecting on the process of doing this book—the challenges, the poets who contributed, the differences between doing this kind of book and a collection of poems. Carol asked just seven questions, so there’s not a lot of fluff and stuffing to get through.

Ruth Foley wrote a nice review at Five Things. She recommends The Crafty Poet and The Daily Poet as companion books. I’ve made that recommendation myself, so was happy to see that Ruth agrees that these two books belong in every poet’s bookbag.

Grace Cavalieri, who is surely one of the most generous poets/reviewers in America, also wrote a lovely review of The Crafty Poet in the Washington Independent Review of Books. Grace reads a book of poetry a day! Then she reviews many of them.

I'm also happy to report that eight different colleges and universities are already using The Crafty Poet as a textbook.

Lest we forget that I am a poet, I’ve recently had a few poems published in online journals.

Sinkholes appears in the current issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review. Many of you will recognize the story in the poem. It was one that haunted me, the idea that the earth could just open up and swallow somebody’s son.

Then I also have two poems in Mezzo Cammin: An Online Journal of Formalist Poetry by Women. The first, "My Arty Ars Poetica: A Cento," is made up of lines taken from the bio notes in a journal that asks contributors to send in something about their writing process or how they wrote their poem. The other poem, "A Salmon Swims in My Bones," is a concrete poem, one of maybe three I’ve ever written.

Bits & Pieces of This & That

The new issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review has now been posted. As always, you’ll find lots of good reading in this journal. This issue includes the work of 36 poets, one of whom is me. Here’s the entire list:

Elly Bookman, Jared Carter, Stephen Cloud, Kelly Cressio-Moeller,  Barbara Crooker, Katherine Sanchez Espano, William Ford, Kate Fox,  Kalima Hamilton, Kathleen Hellen, Elise Hempel, Graham Hillard,  Edison Jennings, Michael Johnson, Jen Karetnick,
Sandra Kohler, Liz Langemar, Mercedes Lawry, Laurence Lieberman,  Frannie Lindsay, Diane Lockward, Kim Lozano, David Mason, Rose McLarney,  Judith H. Montgomery, John A. Nieves, April Ossmann, Colin Pope,  Connie Post, Doug Ramspeck, Robin Richstone, Lee Rossi, John Ruff,  Joannie Stangeland, Larry D. Thomas, Charles Harper Webb
My poem is Sinkholes. Check it out.

I was pleased to find my new book, The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop, as one of nine recommended titles on Poetry Super Highway’s Holiday Gift List. It makes me very happy to know that my book has made it into the hands of other poets and that they, in turn, are recommending it to still other poets.

Click HERE for Amazon

I do a few back flips (mentally, that is) each time I hear that the book is stimulating the writing of new poems. This tweet from Julie Brooks Barbour put a smile on my face: "Thanks to The Crafty Poet by @Dianelock, I drafted a poem this morning."

White Elephant Contemporary Poetry Gift Exchange

As if all that weren’t enough good news, it seems that The Crafty Poet took part in the 3rd Annual White Elephant Contemporary Poetry Gift Exchange in Arizona, led by poet and teacher Shawnte Orion. Shawnte wrote about the event at his blog, Battered Hive. Here’s what he wrote about The Crafty Poet:

I also gave away a copy of Diane Lockward's portable workshop The Crafty Poet which includes insight and writing exercises from 56 top poets and two sample poems for each prompt so you can see what other poets come up with. I didn't read my poem that was one of the sample poems based on the Richard Jones’ prompt. But I did read Cecilia Woloch's “Fireflies” and Jeffrey McDaniel's 

Compulsively Allergic to the Truth

I'm sorry I was late.
I was pulled over by a cop
for driving blindfolded
with a raspberry-scented candle
flickering in my mouth.
I'm sorry I was late.
I was on my way
when I felt a plot
thickening in my arm.
I have a fear of heights.
Luckily the Earth
is on the second floor
of the universe.
I am not the egg man.
I am the owl
who just witnessed
another tree fall over
in the forest of your life.
I am your father
shaking his head
at the thought of you.
I am his words dissolving
in your mind like footprints
in a rainstorm.
I am a long-legged martini.
I am feeding olives
to the bull inside you.
I am decorating
your labyrinth,
tacking up snapshots
of all the people
who've gotten lost
in your corridors.


Jeffrey's poem is one of the model poems in The Crafty Poet. It is followed by a prompt based on the poem and two sample poems written to the prompt.

New Issue of VPR

The Fall/Winter issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review was recently posted. VPR was one of the early online literary journals and showed that an online journal could publish strong work and make a real contribution to poetry. Editor Ed Byrne has done much to make VPR a highly respected online journal and one that has served as a model for others that have followed.

This issue contains poems by 35 poets:

Claire Bateman, Shari Wagner, Michael Dobberstein, Elise Hempel, 

Philip Dacey, Susan Cohen, George David Clark, Kim Bridgford, 

Greg McBride, Gary Fincke, Judy Kronenfeld, Joanne Lowery, 

John A. Nieves, Mercedes Lawry, Laura Davies Foley, Scott Brennan, 

John Ronan, Joannie Stangeland, Darlene Pagan, Mark Thalman, 

Marilyn McCabe, Kate Fox, Doug Ramspeck, Amy Eisner, 

Patricia Caspers, Rose Postma, Athena Kildegaard, Thomas Alan Holmes, 

Elizabeth Harlan-Ferlo, Austin MacRae, Judith Harris, 

                                                           Angela Alaimo O'Donnell, John McDermott

The featured poet in this issue is Thomas Reiter. Although I've never met him, he's a fellow New Jersey poet.

This issue also includes five book reviews.

And my poem, "How Heavy the Snow." It's in good company.

Poetry from Paradise Valley

Click HERE to Order

 I love poetry anthologies. As a reader of an anthology, I enjoy the variety of voices and styles. As a contributor to an anthology, I appreciate the opportunity to have a previously published poem reach a wider audience. As both a reader and a poet, I am happy to recommend to you a new anthology, Poetry from Paradise Valley, edited by Edward Byrne, the editor of Valparaiso Poetry Review, one of the first online journals I ever submitted to and still one of my favorites. Once the journal reached its tenth year, Ed decided to celebrate this milepost with an anniversary anthology of poems he's published in the journal. Rather than stuff the collection, Ed limited it to 50 poems.

Here's how Ed describes the collection:

Poetry from Paradise Valley includes a stellar roster of 50 poets. Among the contributors are a former Poet Laureate of the United States, a winner of the Griffin International Prize, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, two National Book Critics Circle winners, six finalists for the National Book Award, four finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and a few dozen recipients of other honors, such as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts. . .

Not bad! Needless to say, I am delighted to have my poem, April at the Arboretum, included among the poems of such a "stellar" group of poets.

You can purchase the book at the Pecan Grove website. There you will find an order form or you can use the convenience of PayPal. The book is also available at Amazon, but the publisher's site is the better deal.

Here's the list of poets included in the anthology:

DAVID BAKER * JOHN BALABAN * CLAIRE BATEMAN * J.P. DANCING BEAR * MICHELLE BITTING * JARED CARTER * KATHARINE COLES * BILLY COLLINS * MARK CONWAY * ALFRED CORN * BARBARA CROOKER * KWAME DAWES * CORNELIUS EADY * LYNNELL EDWARDS * W.D. EHRHART * CLAUDIA EMERSON * BERNARDINE EVARISTO * PATRICIA FARGNOLI * ANNIE FINCH * DAISY FRIED * BRENDAN GALVIN * PAMELA GEMIN * REGINALD GIBBONS * DAVID GRAHAM * H. PALMER HALL * JONATHAN HOLDEN * T.R. HUMMER * GRAY JACOBIK * ALLISON JOSEPH * DAVID KIRBY * DORIANNE LAUX * LAURENCE LIEBERMAN * FRANNIE LINDSAY * DIANE LOCKWARD * SEBASTIAN MATTHEWS * WILLIAM MATTHEWS * WALT McDONALD * ELISE PASCHEN * KEVIN PILKINGTON * STANLEY PLUMLY * SHEROD SANTOS * MARGOT SCHILPP * FLOYD SKLOOT * DAVE SMITH * VIRGIL SUAREZ * DANIEL TOBIN * CATHERINE TUFARIELLO * 
BRIAN TURNER * INGRID WENDT * CHARLES WRIGHT 


Poetry from Paradise Valley

Click Here to Order

I love anthologies. As a reader of poetry, I enjoy hearing a variety of voices assembled in one place. It's like a choir with each member stepping forward for a solo. As a poet, I appreciate the opportunity to reach a wider audience with a previously published poem. So I am pleased as both a reader and a poet to recommend Poetry from Paradise Valley, edited by Ed Byrne, the editor of the online journal, Valparaiso Poetry Review, one of the first online journals I ever submitted to and still one of my favorites. Having begun the journal ten years ago, Ed decided to do an anniversary collection to celebrate the first decade. Rather than stuff the collection, Ed kept it to a comfortable limit of 50 poems. 

Here's Ed's own description of the book: "Poetry from Paradise Valley includes a stellar roster of 50 poets. Among the contributors are a former Poet Laureate of the United States, a winner of the Griffin International Prize, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, two National Book Critics Circle winners, six finalists for the National Book Award, four finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and a few dozen recipients of other honors, such as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, etc."

I wish I could say that I'd won of the above-mentioned prizes, but alas, no. I am, however, delighted to have my poem, April at the Arboretum, included among the 50 poems selected.

The collection can be ordered at Pecan Grove's Ordering Page. You can print out an order form or you can order online using PayPal. The book is very reasonably priced at $15. That's a major bargain for 50 poems. You can also order via Amazon, but the better deal for this book is at the publisher's site.

Here's the entire list of the "stellar" poets included in the anthology:

DAVID BAKER * 
JOHN BALABAN
 * CLAIRE BATEMAN * 
J.P. DANCING BEAR * 
MICHELLE BITTING * 
JARED CARTER * 
KATHARINE COLES * 
BILLY COLLINS * 
MARK CONWAY * 
ALFRED CORN * 
BARBARA CROOKER * 
KWAME DAWES * 
CORNELIUS EADY
 * LYNNELL EDWARDS
 * W.D. EHRHART * 
CLAUDIA EMERSON * 
BERNARDINE EVARISTO * 
PATRICIA FARGNOLI * 
ANNIE FINCH * DAISY FRIED * 
BRENDAN GALVIN *  
PAMELA GEMIN * 
REGINALD GIBBONS * 
DAVID GRAHAM * 
H. PALMER HALL * 
JONATHAN HOLDEN * 
T.R. HUMMER * 
GRAY JACOBIK * 
ALLISON JOSEPH * 
DAVID KIRBY * 
DORIANNE LAUX * 
LAURENCE LIEBERMAN * 
FRANNIE LINDSAY * 
DIANE LOCKWARD * 
SEBASTIAN MATTHEWS * 
WILLIAM MATTHEWS * 
WALT McDONALD * 
ELISE PASCHEN * 
KEVIN PILKINGTON *  
STANLEY PLUMLY * 
SHEROD SANTOS * 
MARGOT SCHILPP * 
FLOYD SKLOOT * 
DAVE SMITH * 
VIRGIL SUAREZ *  
DANIEL TOBIN * 
CATHERINE TUFARIELLO * 
BRIAN TURNER * 
INGRID WENDT * 
CHARLES WRIGHT