National Poetry Month would not have been complete if 1455 didn’t feature a poet! It was therefore my extreme pleasure to have time to chat with poet, teacher, and literary activist Susan Rich, who has not one, but two recent books, both of which come highly recommended (especially if you’re a poet at any stage of your career). Reading Susan’s work I thought at times of Carolyn Forche and her poignant poetry of witness, but I also thought of Mark Twain’s famous line: Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. This applies to her poetry, but also serves as an antidote to our contemporary climate, where far too many folks are siloed in their cultivated lanes—receiving news from preferred sources, listening only to likeminded voices, and this almost pathological fear of The Other, which I confess I thought we’d largely put in the cultural rearview.
In addition to being a most welcome one-two punch, Susan’s books complement each other in a variety of ways: we learn about craft (including the fine points of everything from manuscript assembly to cover art), and then see how it’s done throughout Gallery of Postcards and Maps, which features new work and a nice sampling of poems going back decades.
As always, it’s our pleasure to partner with D.C.’s historic Potter’s House and we encourage you to pick up your copies of Susan’s books from them and help support independent booksellers!
ABOUT THE BOOKS
“The new and selected poems of Gallery of Postcards and Maps introduce themselves with a warmth that deepens into wisdom. Susan Rich finds music in everything inside and outside her windows: Leonora Carrington, Vegetarian Vampires, lovers and ex-lovers, Lorca and Courbet. This book displays the hallmarks of her oeuvre: her mastery of form; her acuity of heart and eye. These terrific poems are full of compassion, lyricism and attention. The selected reflects an ever-present restlessness of spirit, flesh, and intellect.”
– Terrance Hayes, author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
Book creation is an art and Demystifying the Manuscript offers many perspectives on how to put together a book of poems through the essays and interviews of contemporary prize-winning poets and editors. While there isn’t a single “correct” method for creating a book of poems, Demystifying the Manuscript is filled with expert advice on all aspects of manuscript creation: ordering your poems, determining your goals, insider tips from the editors of journals and small presses, and everything in between. Demystifying the Manuscript will guide you through the process of creating your best book of poems whether you are an emerging writer or an established poet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Rich is the author of seven books including: Gallery of Postcards and Maps, as well as Cloud Pharmacy, The Alchemist’s Kitchen, and others. Her poetry has earned awards from the Fulbright Foundation, PEN USA, and the Times Literary Supplement. She is the co-editor (along with Kelli Russell Agodon) of Demystifying the Manuscript: Creating a Book of Poems. Susan teaches at Highline College and directs Poets on the Coast: A Writing Retreat for Women in La Conner, WA.
