Storytelling in Poetry

The author of What Can I Tell You?: Selected Poems examines poetic approaches to narrative.
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The author of What Can I Tell You?: Selected Poems examines poetic approaches to narrative.
“I like taking risks.” —Joy Castro, author of One Brilliant Flame
“There’s space for your story.” —E. M. Tran, author of Daughters of the New Year
“In the mornings—or when I roll over from a dream—there’s only God and me talking to each other.” —Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, author of The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois
This week’s installment of Ten Questions features Mariana Oliver and Julia Sanches, the author and the translator of Migratory Birds.
In his first nonfiction book, How the Word Is Passed, published in June by Little, Brown, poet and scholar Clint Smith delves into the legacy of slavery alive in the monuments and landmarks within and beyond the United States, in an immersive read that exquisitely depicts how a nation and its inhabitants remember its history.
The author of I Know You Know Who I Am recalls his first attempt at writing a braided narrative.
“There were so many revelations I could only have reached through the process of putting memories on paper.” —Elizabeth Miki Brina, author of Speak, Okinawa
“Writing is revision. Period. That’s not glamorous, but it is rewarding.” —Robert Jones Jr., author of The Prophets
“You have to become the person who can write the book you’re working on.” —Zeyn Joukhadar, author of The Thirty Names of Night