Dorsía Smith Silva (In Inheritance of Drowning, CavanKerry, 2024) and Vincent Toro (Hivestruck, Penguin 2024) explore why their writing in these precarious times is essential, especially as their writing embodies protest poetry. They discuss protest writing as a transformative experience and means to address US colonialism, Latinx identity, and the intersections between Puerto Rico, ecopoetics, capitalism, neoliberalism, and environmental and economic destruction. As they share how their poetry can lead to collective action and empowerment, Dorsía and Vincent also address some contemporary racial, social, and political injustices that many marginalized communities confront.
We were honored to host a reading of Notebooks guests and other folks close to the poet Jennifer Martelli. This reading raised funds for the Eastern Massachusetts Abortion Fund, and through the generosity of the readers and guests, we raised more than $1000 in Jennifer’s name.
Readers featured: Kathi Aguerro (Jenn poem), Hannah Larrabee, Leah Umansky, Cindy Veach (Jenn poem), Anne-Marie Oomen (read by Lisa Allen), Danika Stegman, Brandel France de Bravo (Jenn poem), Wendy Wisner, Sarah Kain Gutowski, Cynthia Marie Hoffman, Frances Donovan (Jenn poem), José Angel Araguz (Jenn poem), Katherine Durham Oldmixon Garza, Richard Hoffman, Ellen Austin-Li (Jenn poem), Dorsía Smith Silva, Marcus Myers, Marjorie Tesser (Jenn poem), Lisa Allen (Jenn poem), Rebecca Kirk Connors.
What a delight to hear how Keith and Callie approach their work. We really enjoyed watching and learning how a visual poem comes into being. Please watch this wonderful conversation about art, ekphrasis, plotting points and what keeps us curious.
We are excited to bring together two poets and artists from Texas, Katherine D. Oldmixon Garza and Octavio Quintanilla, introduced by friend Marcela Sulak. Octavio’s Book of Wounded Sparrows and Katherine’s Life Afterlife / A Book of the Hours have shared themes of grief, loss, and mourning. Katherine wrote about the two books as singing together, or rather, “By sing, I might mean keen, not as a wild wailing but sometimes as a wild ceremony, sometimes as a ceremony in the wild.” We then added an additional dimension: their multiple languages and modalities used to produce their work. Octavio added, “I am interested to see how our work converges and diverges in terms of how we write grief, joy, closure.”
We were so honored to have poet Gabrielle Calvocoressi visit us for an event. They chose to be in conversation with filmmaker Sasha Waters, who has made a new documentary about Mary Oliver, called Saved by the Beauty of the World. It was an amazing time with preview clips of the film, readings by Gaby and a bunch of questions from friends.
On 11/11, longtime poetry collaborators, Zoë Ryder White and Nicole Callihan read from their collaborative works and discussed their process. The two began collaborating in 1999 and have two published chapbooks–A Study in Spring, winner of the Baltic Writing Residency Prize (2015) and Elsewhere, winner of the Sixth Finch Chapbook Prize (2020)–as well as many other works in progress.
We were so happy to host Iain and Nathan on October 21 for a reading and conversation. Iain’s newest book, All the Possible Bodies, was published this fall.
We welcomed Taylor Byas & jason b. crawford to The Notebooks Collective in September. We were thrilled to have these two brilliant poets join us to talk about craft, friendship, using poetry as a means to reckon with oppression and more.
We welcomed Valerie Smith & Monica Lee Weatherly to The Notebooks Collective in August. We were thrilled to have these two poet-educators join us to talk about working in community, sharing cultural histories, and the importance of place.
A long-time friendship across continents. Both with roots in Washington, D.C. and with a deep attention to the world. Watch this In Conversation to learn about their new work and relationship with writing. And a very special crow.
We celebrated the launch of Incidental Pollen, the debut full-length collection from Ellen Austin-Li in June. She was joined by her friend and mentor, poet Pauletta Hansel. Enjoy some poems and some conversation around the making of this beautiful new collection.
Two poets interested in affairs of the heart and the abiding loneliness at the center of the human experience. Two poets who overlapped at Warren Wilson’s MFA program yet who have different styles of writing.
This conversation touches on maintaining a creative practice alongside life’s many competing demands (both in school and after it), what a first book changes and does not change, and the importance of literary/poetry friendships.
Massachusetts poets and friends Richard Hoffman and January Gill O’Neil joined The Notebooks Collective for an evening of craft, conversation, and literary citizenship.
On January 28, 2025, poets Carolyn Oliver and Hannah Larrabee read from their respective collections and discussed both creativity and craft. Throughout the event, the two poets shared a reverence for science and deep wonder for–and curiosity in–the world (both seen and unseen).
An evening of poetry and remembrance hosted by Eric Doise, husband of late poet Saara Myrene Raappana. Eric was joined by Lauren K. Carlson and Halley Cotton, all of whom read from Saara’s collected work, Chamber After Chamber, which was awarded the Juniper Prize for Poetry. Saara was also the author of the chapbooks A Story of America Goes Walking (Shechem Press) and Milk Tooth, Levee, Fever (Dancing Girl Press).
A gifted poet and teacher, Saara left a legacy of not only powerful and award-winning poetry, but also as an educator, mental health pioneer and animal lover. Her great warmth, intelligence and kindness was evident to all who knew her and will be celebrated in this one-of-a-kind reading.
Poets and co-founders of Bear Review, Marcus Myers & Rivka Clifton have grown together as poets, even as their own work is aesthetically different. As Marcus says, “This sharing and cheering each other on, discussing craft and aesthetics, swapping and giving books with and to each other has led, in some ways directly and in others indirectly, to our creating Bear Review.”
We welcomed poets Karen Rigby and Danika Stegeman to The Notebooks Collective for an evening of poetry and conversation. The discussion explored musings on second books, ars poetica, and more!
We welcomed poets Eugenia Leigh & Diannely Antigua to The Notebooks Collective for an evening of conversation about creativity and connection. We are thrilled to host this In Conversation, in which the poets discussed their newest books, Bianca and Good Monster respectively, among other things.
There are as many ways to organize a collection of poems as there are poets who write them. And yet there are strategies and principles that can be useful across these differences. “If you have a book of twenty-four poems, the book itself should be the twenty-fifth,” Robert Frost has been quoted as saying.
Using this statement as a guide, Pauletta will offer various approaches she and other poets have used to create that cohesive whole, including the writing of poetic sequences. She will also provide resources for further study on the matter. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion, so come ready to talk about your struggles and successes in developing your own manuscript.
$25
About Pauletta
Pauletta Hansel’s ten poetry collections include Will There Also Be Singing? (Shadelandhouse Modern Press, 2024); Heartbreak Tree (Madville Publications, 2022), which won the Poetry Society of Virginia’s 2023 North American Book Award; and Palindrome (Dos Madres Press, 2017) winner of Berea College’s Weatherford Award in Poetry. Her writing has been featured in Oxford American, Rattle, Appalachian Journal, Still: The Journal, Verse Daily and Poetry Daily, among others. Pauletta was Cincinnati’s first poet laureate, and the 2022 Writer in Residence for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.
On November 7, 2023, the Notebooks Collective hosted Michael Kleber-Diggs & Danusha Laméris. Each read from their own poetry collections and discussed their friendship, poetry craft, what it means to revise and more.
