Poet, Writer, Instructor
Oh, that withering term, “dabble,” insinuating that a “dabbler” isn’t serious, flits about like a cabbage butterfly, and abandons things when they get difficult. It’s right up there with “dilettante,” “amateur,” and “superficial,” related, both in meaning and in sound, to “doodle,” another activity that sounds suspiciously frivolous. In spite of its bad reputation, dabbling… Continue reading It’s ok to dabble
I first encountered the term “the speaker,” in reference to poetry, at a graduate writing workshop. One of my fellow students said, “the speaker seems angry here” and “I’m not sure what the speaker means with this statement.” It took me a minute to realize that she meant the voice of the narrator in the poem, not its actual… Continue reading Excuse me, I’m speaking: the role of the speaker in poetry
“The Dark Garden” by Yves Tanguy On July 23 at 5:56 PM, I received an email from Broadstone Books which began: “Dear Erica, On behalf of the Broadstone Books acquisitions team, thank you for the opportunity to read your manuscript Landscape with Womb and Paradox, and for your patience with the time it has taken for us… Continue reading My New Book, Landscape with Womb and Paradox, to be published in 2025
I was rummaging around my kitchen the other day when an idea struck me: just like every pantry needs to be stocked with the basic foods most meals are built on, poets need a supply of staples they can use to create poetry. I thought it would be fun to compare food pantry staples to… Continue reading Poetry Staples
I believe in the magic of index cards. When I get stuck on a poem, essay or review, I will stop everything and revert to my trusty pack of unlined index cards. Just shuffling them for a few moments can give my brain the break it needs. Then I grab a pen and start writing things… Continue reading How I try to be a better writer
In early June, I attended a performance featuring comedian Paula Poundstone. I’ve been a fan of hers since the mid-80s, when the stand-up comedy scene was rising in the Bay Area. Poundstone was a regular at the clubs during those days, and my husband and I watched her career rise, along with those of Howie… Continue reading My Imaginary Conversation with Paula Poundstone
It wasn’t until I went to graduate school in my forties that I began to experiment with poetic forms. One of the things that previously turned me off to writing in forms was the practice of rhyming end lines. It’s hard to rhyme words in English; according to Flocabulary, “orange” is just one of a list… Continue reading To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme: Writing Formal Poetry
I love being a poet. I love expressing myself in words. There’s nothing quite like that feeling when a poem begins to come together, the words and images connecting in moving and surprising ways. I happily devote innumerable hours to building an object from words, trying out various expressions, line breaks, and odd enjambments in… Continue reading Self-acceptance for Poets
In March, the editors of Eucalyptus Literary Journal interviewed me for their established writer feature. They asked if I had any advice for young writers, a question I get often and one I take seriously. I wanted to share something more relevant than “get yourself in a chair and just write,” or “write a thousand words a… Continue reading Advice for young writers
At the end of December, 2023, I wrote a blog post about some writing goals I’d set for myself: “I’m more interested in what’s to come, not what’s past. When I ask myself what I want to accomplish as a writer in 2024, the answers come back loud and clear. I want to take more risks in… Continue reading Back to Beginner’s Mind