Let Go The Goat

Renee Emerson is a poet, online writing instructor, and homeschooling mom of five. She is the author of three poetry collections; her first collection, Keeping Me Still (Winter Goose Publishing 2014), was a finalist in the Jacar Press Julie Suk Award for Best Poetry Book Published by an Independent Press in 2014. Her second collection, Threshing Floor , was published by Jacar Press in 2016, and Ch...

Burl discusses the process of putting together his anthology To Heaven's Rim The Kingdom Poets Book of World Christian Poetry, Beginnings to 1800, in English Translation. About Burl Horniachek – Burl grew up near Edmonton, went to the University of Toronto to study Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Hebrew/Ancient Israel) and eventually came back to study creative writing with Nobel Prize winner Derek...

A presentation by Jane Greer discussing what is a poem and why we should respect meaning and definition. This presentation preceded our monthly poetry discussion group as a prompt for deeper conversation. About Jane Greer – Jane Greer is a Catholic formalist poet. She founded and edited Plains Poetry Journal (1981-1993). PPJ was an advance guard of the New Formalism movement—although Greer didn’t...

About Betsy K. Brown – Betsy is a poet, essayist, and curricular writer. Her work has appeared in many outlets, including  First Things ,  The New Ohio Review , and The Circe Institute website. She is the author of  Leading a Seminar on Frankenstein  and chairs the humanities department of a classical school. You can read more of her work at  betsykbrown.com .  About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked i...

About Daniel Mitsui – Daniel’s meticulously detailed ink drawings, made entirely by hand on paper or vellum, are held in collections worldwide. He desires to make art that is faithful to tradition yet strikingly original, and vigorously medieval in spirit. Daniel is also a formal poet and a prolific designer of typefaces, surface patterns, and ornament. He lives in Indiana with his wife and their...

About Greg Lookerse – (USA, b. 1987) is an interdisciplinary artist, author and educator based in West Michigan. Lookerse makes mixed media drawings, installations and performances. Born and raised in Yucaipa, California, Lookerse received his BFA from Biola University (2009) and his MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston at Tufts University (2014). He has won awards and grants, exh...

About –  Jesse Keith Butler lives with his wife and two children in Ottawa, Ontario. He recently completed a PhD in Education, which led to his current work in the Canadian civil service. His eclectic education has also included an MA in English Language and Literature and a BA in Liberal Arts. His lifelong exploration of poetic form is grounded in his experience of the life of faith: a guiding st...

An interview with Katie Hartsock where we discuss how students become interested in poetry. What is erasure poetry and can it be a poem and worth pursuing. About Katie Hartsock – Katie Hartsock grew up around Youngstown, Ohio, where Mill Creek Park remains one of her favorite places in the world. She is the author of Wolf Trees   (2023) and   Bed of Impatiens  (2016), both from  Able Muse Press ....

An interview with David J. Rothman. We discuss how to engage poetry. He shares his thoughts on elegy and grief poetry. About David J. Rothman – David J. Rothman has published six volumes of poetry, including "My Brother’s Keeper" (Lithic Press, 2019) and "The Elephant’s Chiropractor" (Conundrum Press, 1998), both of which were Finalists for the Colorado Book Award. Over the last 40 years hundreds...

About James Matthew Wilson – James is the Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and the founding director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of Saint Thomas. The author of fourteen books, his most recent collection of poems is Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds (Word on Fire, 2024). The Strangeness of the Good (2020), won the poetry book of the year award from the C...

An interview with Amit Majmudar. We discuss how poets enter into the poetry world through academia or professionally and the limits of each. He shares the first poem shared from his X feed. About Amit Majmudar – Amit diagnostic nuclear radiologist who lives in Westerville, Ohio, with his wife and three children. He is the author of four volumes of poetry, most recently  What He Did in Solitary.  H...

An interview with Mischa Willett. He discusses some early moments with poetry in high school. We discuss how to enter into the poetry space as a Christian. Mischa reads two soon to be published poems. About Mischa Willett – Mischa is a specialist in British Literature of the Nineteenth-Century, particularly the poetry of writers such as William Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, and Samuel Taylor Coleridg...

About Jane Clark SchoolJane Clark Scharl is a poet and critic. Her poetry has appeared in some of the nation’s top poetry journals, as well as internationally on the BBC. Her collection Ponds is coming out in April 2024. She is the Seminar Manager for Intercollegiate Studies Institute. Her first verse play, Sonnez Les Matines, debuted in 2023, and her second, The Death of Rabelais, is coming out i...

An interview with A.M. Juster. We discuss how he became involved with poetry. How is poetry and other aspects of academia prescriptive? Can social media reengage people to poetry? And more. About A.M. Juster – Michael James Astrue is an American lawyer and, under the pen name A. M. Juster, a poet and critic. He served as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2007 to 2013. Astrue...

An interview with Mary Finnegan where we discuss how she first was introduced to poetry and the journey to arrive at Wiseblood Books. Mary shares a bit about how Wiseblood operates and the overall poetry publishing industry. About Mary Finnegan –  Mary worked as a Registered Nurse in various settings, including the operating room and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She is now a freelance editor...

An interview with Betsy K. Brown where we discuss how she first became involved with poetry and the process to arrive at her first published book. We also get a little heady and discuss the “romantic versus beautiful” and poetry that slows down time. About Betsy K. Brown – Betsy is a poet, essayist, and curricular writer. Her work has appeared in many outlets, including  First Things ,  The New Oh...

An interview with Burl Horniachek where we discuss his book To Heaven's Rim: The Kingdom Poets Book of World Christian Poetry , if poets make the best translators, a few contemporary Christian poets he enjoys, and an excerpt from his book. About Burl Horniachek Burl grew up near Edmonton, went to the University of Toronto to study Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Hebrew/Ancient Israel) and eventually...

An interview with Jane Clark Scharl where we discuss what makes a good poem. About Jane Clark Scharl Jane Clark Scharl is an American poet, playwright, and critic. Her poetry has appeared in many American and European outlets, including the BBC,  The Hopkins Review, The New Ohio Review, The Hudson Review, The American Journal of Poetry, The Lamp, Measure Review , and others. Her criticism has appe...

Jesse and I discuss the process of becoming a poet, developing the work, and having it published. About Jesse Keith Butler Jesse is a formalist-leaning poet, based in Ottawa, Ontario. His work bridges traditional and contemporary poetic forms, rooted in his experience of the life of faith. He recently was a third place winner in the Kierkegaard Poetry Competition , judged by Dana Gioia and Mary Gr...

An interview with Jane Greer where we discuss what is a poem and what do words mean. About Jane Greer Jane Greer is a Catholic formalist poet. She founded and edited  Plains Poetry Journal  (1981-1993).  PPJ  was an advance guard of the New Formalism movement—although Greer didn’t know that at the time. Her two most recent poetry collections are  Love Like a Conflagration  (2020) and  The World as...

An interview with Maya Clubine. We discuss her new chapbook, how she became involved with poetry, and how readers find her work. About Maya Clubine Maya Clubine is a writer and artist from the Canadian East Coast. She is an MFA candidate at the University of St. Thomas (TX) where she received a Scanlan Fellowship. Maya has published in  Rattle, The Literary Review of Canada, Modern Age, The South...

An interview with James Matthew Wilson where we discuss how someone new to poetry begins to engage the medium. James Matthew Wilson is Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and the Founding Director of the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing , at the University of Saint Thomas, Houston.  An award-winning scholar of philosophical-theology and literature, he has authored dozens o...