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VerseWrights "Update," Winter, 2015

We welcome you to our latest edition of the VerseWrights Update.

Since our last Update, we have added a considerable number of poets from around the world. We have also added a number of new recordings in the PoetryAloud area. Our presence on Tumblr and Pinterest continue to grow as well.

We should also note that we are growing on both Facebook and Twitter. Our readership overall has increased significantly. Good poets and fine poems bring readers who not only visit, but return.

It is gratifying to see so many people calling VerseWrights a great place to "make a cup of tea and read some great poetry," as one visitor put it.

The Latest Poets to Publish on VerseWrights.

 

 

The poets who have published on VerseWrights since our last Update make up not only a sizable group, but a wide geographical distribution as well. We warmly welcome the following 17 poets (representing 8 different countries). Click on any poet's name to visit the poetry page of that poet.

Stefanie Brennan (Australia)
Polly Robinson (UK)
Angelee Deodhar (India)
Kristin Maffei (US)
Ali Znaidi (Tunisia)
Richard Biddle (UK)
Amauri Solon (Brazil)
David Adès (US)
Gail Thomas (US)
Björn Rudberg (Sweden)
Victor Perrotti (US)
Allison Grayhurst (Canada)
Cristina Umpfenbach (US)
Ramesh Anand (India)
Carriere, Phillip (US)
David Thornbrugh (US)
Laura Lynn Brown (US)

New Video and Audio Performances by Our Poets

There are now over 70 video and audio recordings, all by VerseWrights poets. Please note that this time we have two poets who read each other's poems--something we have been encouraging. Our additions since the last Update, below (Click on a poem's title to go directly to that performance):

J Matthew Waters, "new moon rising," (audio) reader: Reka Jellema

Polly Robinson, "First Love," (audio)

Luke Prater, "Melanie Brown," (audio)

Reka Jellema, "Hunkered," (audio) reader: J Matthew Waters

Charles Bane, Jr. "Come, Beloved" (video)

Victor Perrotti, "existential crossroads," (audio)

Charlie Brice, "Chasing Jesus," (audio)

Click here to go to the PoetryAloud area on VerseWrights. 

VerseWrights has been busy on Tumblr

Tumblr is the site where we post all things related to poetry. We have featured audio, video, and photos--all of either current interest or of historical note. We invite you to join us there, as many have. Below are some of the items we have featured recently:

"Poets and Depression," "The Onion and National Poetry Month," "T.S. Poetry Press: Dave Malone, "Wally Swist and The Doadejing," "Robert Pinsky reading 'Shirt' with friends," "New Voices: Like It Here," "Timothy David Orme and "afterlight," "Dylan Thomas: "Should Lanterns Shine," "I Can't Breathe: Poems for Eric Garner," "The Poetry School," Dorothy Parker, "Resume" (video), and many more.

Why not visit us?

And, of Course, VerseWrights on Pinterest

Looking for a prompt? Inspiration? Entertainment? Creative ideas? We post images of one sort or another on a regular basis. Come and take a look.

Image courtesy of Allen Williams @ www.IJust Draw.com

Final Note

In his book, The Meaning of Human Existence, Edward O. Wilson makes a compelling argument that "the most successful scientist thinks like a poet," but must work and write "like a bookeeper," where metaphor is not accepted.

After this discussion, he writes the following about creative artists and poets:

"The exact opposite is the case in poetry and other creative arts. There metaphor is everything. The creative writer, composer, or visual artist conveys, often obliquely by abstraction or deliberate distortion, his own perceptions and the feelings he hopes to evoke--about something, real or imagined. He seeks to bring forth in an original way some truth or other about the human experience. He tries to pass what he creates directly along the channel of human experience, from his mind to your mind. His work is judged by the power and beauty of its metaphors. He obeys a dictum ascribed to Picasso: art is the lie that shows us the truth."

(The Meaning of Human Existance, Edward O. Wilson, Liveright, 2014, pp. 41 - 42; Picasso, "Self Portrait," charcoal and pencil on paper, 1917, Musée Picasso, Paris, France)