One of the neat things about the internet is that it’s full of surprises. The other night, after stumbling on the Wall Poems site, I searched a little further and came across a copy of my poem “Persia” on a site called Iranian.com — there, Soosan Khanoom has a blog of Favorite Poems, and s/he reprinted mine. I suppose I should be upset that they didn’t request permission before reprinting, but this is a poem from my first book, Landscapes and Architectures, and it was originally published in The Literary Review. It’s had a life in print, and it’s nice to see the poem crop up in a new environment. The blogger did at least give me credit as the author of the poem, though it would be nice if s/he also credited the magazine as first publisher or link to my blog or mention my book. Still, I’m glad someone liked the poem, and maybe a few more people will have read it, thanks to the site. S/he did mention that the poem was nominated for a Pushcart, which is true (it didn’t win, but the nomination was an honor), though they did list the year wrong. The poem was written for a good friend from grad school, published in The Literary Review in the Spring issue of 2001, and nominated later that year.
Favorite Poem, Persia
Published by Kendall Dunkelberg
I am a poet, translator, and professor of literature and creative writing at Mississippi University for Women, where I direct the Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing, the undergraduate concentration in creative writing, and the Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium. I am Chair of the Department of Languages, Literature, and Philosophy, and I have published four collections of poetry, Tree Fall with Birdsong, Barrier Island Suite, Time Capsules, and Landscapes and Architectures, as well as a collection of translations of the Belgian poet Paul Snoek, Hercules, Richelieu, and Nostradamus, and the textbook A Writer's Craft: Multi-Genre Creative Writing. I was born and raised in Osage, Iowa, and have lived for over thirty years in Columbus, Mississippi, where my wife Kim and I let wildflowers grow in our yard to the delight of spring polinators and only some of our neighbors. View more posts