Poem-a-Day - Poems from On a Grey Thread and more

June 28, 2022

Celebrate Pride Month by reading all the poems published in Elsa Gidlow’s On a Grey Thread (Will Ransom, 1923).

“A Happy Song”
“The Poet”
“This Is Not Love”
“You Are Not She”
“Love Song”
“I Must Be Far”
“Chance”

Elsie Alice Gidlow, born on December 29, 1898 in Hull, Yorkshire, England, was a poet and journalist. She was the author of many titles, including On a Grey Thread (Will Ransom, 1923), believed to be the first collection of openly lesbian love poetry published in North America. Her autobiography, Elsa: I Come With My Songs (Booklegger Press, 1986), was the first lesbian autobiography not published under a pseudonym. She died on June 8, 1986.

Poems for the Fourth of July

“America is Loving Me to Death” by Michael Kleber-Diggs
“Dear America” by Rachel Eliza Griffiths
“A New National Anthem” by Ada Limón
“I, Too” by Langston Hughes
“This Is Not a Small Voice” by Sonia Sanchez
“I Come From A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen” by Kari Gunter-Seymour

From the Archive: June Jordan Reading Flyer

Browse more LGBTQ poems, essays, books, and photos from the archive, including this poster advertising a New York City reading in 1970 by June Jordan, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets.

First Book Award

Eduardo C. Corral will judge the 2023 Academy of American Poets First Book Award, the most generous first-book prize for poetry in the U.S. The winning manuscript will be published by Graywolf Press and the winning poet will receive a paid residency at Civitella Ranieri. Submissions for the First Book Award will be accepted online between July 1 and September 1, 2022.

Nominations for Hawaiʻi State Poet Laureate are now open. View the nomination form and learn more here. Nominations will be open June 20–August 20, 2022.

I’m also writing about Thomas Hoccleve, whose series is really great and great to read. It’s only for the Complaint and Dialogue, which are the first two of the five parts. It’s not terribly difficult as far as Middle English goes. It’s fifteenth-century, so maybe a little closer to Shakespeare or something for people, and definitely worth taking a look at, and it’s online.

Jos Charles is the author of feeld (Milkweed Editions, 2018), a winner of the National Poetry Series and long-listed for the 2018 National Book Award. Read and listen to Charles discuss her curatorial approach and more on Poets.org.

#PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week

Check out our #PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week: a reading by the 2021 Academy of American Poets First Book Award Winner Kemi Alabi, who will be in conversation with Danez Smith. Hosted by The Seminary Co-op Bookstore. Tuesday, June 28 at 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET. Register for this free, virtual event here.

Watch and listen to Degna Stone’s poem “When We Speak of Our Mothers” as part of the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation’s Read By series of poetry films.

Deadline Approaching: Poetry Coalition Fellowships

With thanks to the Mellon Foundation, the Poetry Coalition is pleased to announce the 2022–23 Poetry Coalition Fellowships, which are paid fellowship positions hosted by founding member organizations Letras Latinas, Mass Poetry, Urban Word, Woodland Pattern, and Youth Speaks. Applications are being accepted until Sunday, July 3. The positions will begin on September 5, 2022 and end on June 30, 2023. Interested individuals who are 21 or older are encouraged to apply, including those who are enrolled in or have recently graduated from an MFA program in creative writing.

University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, is seeking an associate director for the Writing Center.
Writers in the Schools is seeking teachers to lead creative writing residencies for public high school students.

Revisit last week’s Poem-a-Day selections with us on Poets.org:

June 19: “Emancipation” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
June 20: “I want” by Jordan Jace
June 21: “Love Poem with Bighead” by Kaveh Akbar
June 22: “[Country people enjoy dogs...]” by Manal Kara
June 23: “[subterranean / dreaming grace roots]” by Nat Raha
June 24: from “The Rose” by Ariana Reines
June 25: “A Decade” by Amy Lowell

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Poem-a-Day - Poems from On a Grey Thread and more

Older messages

"Darkened Solar Implication" by Will Alexander

"On September 14th, Dante’s Death Day" by Pierre Joris

"The Pool" by Bryher

"A Decade" by Amy Lowell

from "The Rose" by Ariana Reines

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