May/June2013 Issue
May/June Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
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Author Archives: Robert Lee Brewer
Spring!
Whether it feels like it or not, spring begins today. Both of my little brothers went out of their way to make it easy for me to remember their birthdays by being … Read more
The Craft & Business of Writing
I found a nice surprise at my desk this morning: a brand new book. In fact, it’s a book that I helped propose and compile. I even got to write the Foreword. … Read more
New journal, a director-poet gets fired, and someone wins $65,000
“Poet David Beach wins $65,000 NZ Prize in Modern Letters,” by NZPA from Channel 3 Web site, reports that Beach won the literary award for his collection of poems titled Abandoned Novel, his … Read more
No fooling: Write a poem a day in April!
My weekend is about to begin, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make any more posts until Monday. My oldest son will be singing with his kindergarten class tomorrow, … Read more
Mobile Poetry?!? Why not. And the 2007 NBCC poetry winner is announced!
Received a press release today that the Academy of American Poets is launching the first mobile site for poetry. Their entire online archive of 2,500+ poems will be available in the palm … Read more
Exclusive Interview With Valerie Nieman
Poet Valerie Nieman is a self-professed tomboy, who “fished for everything from native brook trout in the small streams of western New York, where I grew up, to cod and haddock by … Read more
By the way, Minnesota picked their first poet laureate last week
And they picked Robert Bly. I remember watching Bly read back in the 20th century when I was attending the University of Cincinnati. He was a funny and engaging reader. Minnesota made … Read more
Tanka: Bigger and More Relaxed Than a Haiku
If a haiku is usually (mistakenly) thought of as a 3-line, 5-7-5 syllable poem, then the tanka would be a 5-line, 5-7-5-7-7 syllable poem. However, as with haiku, it’s better to think … Read more
Board up the doors!
Cover the windows! Dim the lights! But not too much, because you need to get writing today and into the night (late, late, late at night). After all, today is an extra … Read more
Exclusive Interview With Poet Dorianne Laux
As I’ve mentioned on this blog previously, I have a Facebook account under my full name (Robert Lee Brewer). And as I’ve mentioned previously, I’m all about playing online Scrabble at that … Read more
Call for poets!
I’m always interested in discussing interview possibilities with poets who wish to be featured on my Poetic Asides blog, which gets a high amount of daily traffic that is always on the … Read more
Hurry, hurry! Get your caffeine!
As reported on CNN.com, the giant coffee chain Starbucks plans to close every location of their 7,100 stores to do a 3-hour training session for their 135,000 employees. The shutdown is scheduled … Read more
Help me Rondeau! Help, help me, Rondeau! Another French poetic form
It’s been a while since I’ve tackled a poetic form, but as you know, I love the French forms. The rondeau is no exception. It has a refrain and rhymes–two elements I … Read more
February–Are you finished yet?
In Southwestern Ohio, we’ve been receiving consistent doses of snow this month. The totals have not been overly impressive (usually 1-4 inches per storm), but the snow has hit a rhythm with … Read more
Sample Cover Letter From Pebble Lake Review
The editors at Pebble Lake Review offer a sample cover letter. This specific example is for fiction, but it’s easy to see how it could be modified for poetry. http://www.pebblelakereview.com/samplecoverletter.htm A word … Read more
Feeding poetry to the kids
“Windham Poetry Group Overcomes Adversity,” by Heather Murdock from The Daily Campus, reports on a high school poetry group that’s been performing locally and competing in poetry slams since early 2004. As … Read more
Good news Tuesday
On Friday, I learned that two of my poems were accepted for publication in MiPOesias CAFE’ CAFE’ EDITION at http://www.mipoesias.com. It was the first acceptance I’ve had in exactly one year (down … Read more
Will you be my valentine?
So today is Valentine’s Day. Some people love it; some people hate it; and some people think it was invented (or at least promoted) by greeting card and chocolate companies. Here’s a fairly … Read more
Are You Planning Ahead for a Big Hit in Poetry?
I received a couple questions over the weekend as part of my Writer’s Market thing I do. And I thought they both would work well as things to ponder here. In fact, … Read more
Some Poetry News
Even though Nancy Breen has left the blog officially, she still shares various news she finds. And she’s literally on the other side of cubicle wall–so she’s still very close to Poetic … Read more
Should poets be treated like rock stars?
Of course they should! Read: “Poet-mania: Mary Oliver’s sold-out appearance sparks a ticket frenzy on Craigslist,” by John Marshall from SeattlePI.com The article reports on the popularity of Mary Oliver in the … Read more
Busy, busy week…
I’ve just had one of those weeks where I feel like I’m slighting the word “busy” by saying that I was busy. Actually, it was a bit beyond that. In fact, at … Read more
Some Monday morning poetry news
“Pondering what qualifies as poetry,” by James J. Kilpatrick from The Buffalo News, is yet another attempt by someone to nail down what poetry is or isn’t. ***** “Doctor heals with pain … Read more
Exit, Stage Left…
I don’t know how many readers here are old enough to remember the old Snagglepuss cartoons (or maybe they’ve shown them on Cartoon Network or something). Anyhow, whenever Snagglepuss was poised to … Read more
Difficulty in poetry & an argument against a Michigan poet laureate
“Poetry, Difficulty, and a Very Annoying Word,” by Mark Doty from The Best American Poetry blog, is an interesting response to Charles Harper Webb’s recent essay in The Writers Chronicle. Plus, you get to experience … Read more