As I wrote awhile back, we visited Chicago this summer. I got to read at the Uptown Poetry Slam and see old friends. We also drove around the city (driving the Loop on Sunday morning was delightful!), took the dog to the Montrose dog park, had Leona’s pizza in my old neighborhood, and had aContinue reading “Apologies to Chicago or ‘Truth’ in Poetry”
Author Archives: Kendall Dunkelberg
Spider Lilies
My favorite late summer flower has started to bloom. Soon they’ll be everywhere in Columbus — at least everywhere that people don’t mow them. They are also known as Hurricane Lilies or Surprise Lilies. They are the Suprise Lilies in the poem of that title in Time Capsules, though I opted for the more generalContinue reading “Spider Lilies”
Literary Influence
More fun with computers and grading have kept me quiet this week. (Back up your data! I was glad I had when trouble hit.) I am figuring out the new book ordering procedures and getting caught up on my grading, too. I also experienced some of the fun of directing a literary event when oneContinue reading “Literary Influence”
A Look Behind the Curtain
Or why I haven’t written much this week! One of my many hats is Director of the Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium at Mississippi University for Women, an annual event at which a dozen or so authors appear and read from their work. For the audience, everything seems to go seamlessly–I hope! MUW faculty give introductions,Continue reading “A Look Behind the Curtain”
Images and Ideas in Poems
Last week my poetry class was talking about images and ideas in poems, which has me thinking about how poets work with ideas. Images can be anything seen, felt, smelled, heard, tasted, or even imagined. So a subatomic particle, if visualized concretely in a poem, might be seen as an image. The airflow around theContinue reading “Images and Ideas in Poems”
Fruits of Summer
Time to leave the poetry biz aside for awhile and write a little about food. Our local farmer’s market has kept us awash in fresh local produce all summer (when we’ve been in town), but the thing we love most are the peaches — well, those and the tomatoes and thai eggplant and corn andContinue reading “Fruits of Summer”
Poetry Contests
Since I wrote about slams and haiku contests in my last posts, I thought I should add a little about poetry contests. I think competition is great in poetry, but poets need to beware when they enter one! The Iowa Poetry Association (for whom I have judged) is a member of the National Federation ofContinue reading “Poetry Contests”
Slam Poetry
Slam poetry has to be the complete antithesis of haiku. It is loud, long, and boisterous and only occassionally sweet or pensive. This summer I had the good fortune to return to Chicago and visit my old stomping grounds at the Green Mill Lounge on a Sunday night. Here, 23 years ago, according to MarcContinue reading “Slam Poetry”
Judging Haiku
This summer, I had the pleasure to judge a haiku contest for the Iowa Poetry Association. I’ve judged their general adult category before, so I knew this would be interesting, and I reminded myself that 100 or so haiku only meant reading 1700 syllables! So I dove right in. Of course, it was a littleContinue reading “Judging Haiku”
New Puppy
We are hosting our third foster dog from the humane society. He’s on a program called Homeward Bound that takes pets from the South, where not enough people spay and neuter, to the Northeast, where there is a shortage of pets to adopt. It’s a great program that saves a lot of lives, but theirContinue reading “New Puppy”
Kendall Dunkelberg 