Present Poetry

Gargi Sidana is a voracious reader and skilled writer from India. Her poems were published in Spillword, Hues of Reflection Anthology, Silent Cries, Red Rose Thorns publication, Amar Ujala, Delhi Poetry Slam, Iceblink Literary Journal, and others. She also received a diploma in 2019. Her fervent love for words is visible in her writings, and she finds peace and solace in poems.

C.J. ANDERSON-WU (吳介禎) is a Taiwanese writer who has published two collections about Taiwan's military dictatorship (1949–1987), known as The White Terror: Impossible to Swallow (2017) and The Surveillance (2020). She is currently working on her third book Endangered Youth—to Hong Kong. Her short stories have been shortlisted for several international literary awards, including the Art of U...

Devika Mathur resides in India and is a published poet, content writer, and Editor. Her works have been published (or are upcoming) in Madras Courier, Modern Literature, Two Drops Of Ink, Dying Dahlia Review, Pif Magazine, Spillwords, Duane's Poetree, Piker Press, Mojave Heart Review, Whisper and the Roar amongst various others. She also has poems in the US-based Indie Blu(e) Publications- The...

Happy St. Patrick's Week! Alfred Perceval Graves was born July 22, 1846, in Dublin, Ireland. Alfred was educated both in England, at Windermere College, Westmorland, and in Ireland, at Trinity College Dublin. His first poem appeared in the Dublin University Magazine in 1863, and he graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 1869.  He is the author of the comedic songFather O'Flynn, as well...

Thomas Hardy was born June 2nd, 1840 in Higher Brockhampton, Dorset, England. When he was eight, Hardy began attending Mr. Last's Academy for Young Gentlemen in Dorchester. While there, he demonstrated great academic potential. However, his family didn't have the means for higher education, so he left school at 16 and became apprenticed to a local architect. In 1898, Hardy published his fi...

Erynn Crittenden has written poetry since she could hold a pen. This love prompted her to earn a BA in Creative Writing, where she learned how to experiment with syllables and styles. Since then, Erynn has self-published three poetry collections through Amazon and continues to write and publish individual poems, articles, and stories on her website. Erynn is also a poetry staff writer for the Coff...

Rupert Chawner Brooke was born August 3, 1887, in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, and was the third child of William Parker Brooke and Ruth Mary Cotterill. In October of 1906, Rupert went to King's College, Cambridge, to study classics. There, he became a member of the Apostles, was elected president of the university Fabian Society, and helped found the Marlowe Society drama club, where he acte...

Happy Valentine's Day! Let us help you set the mood with a special episode of classic love poems from Love's Sweet, Old Song , a compilation published in 1896 by George H. Ellwanger. Enjoy!

Aishwarya Khale has studied English at the University of Oxford. She has worked at UNDP India and SWA India. She has published her poetry and fiction on platforms across the globe, and her play has been performed at The Golden Goose Theatre in London. You can find her on Twitter or Instagram to learn more or connect with this author.

Robert Lee Frost was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. In 1894, Frost sold his first poem to The Independent, a weekly magazine published in New York. He published his first poetry collection- A Boy's Will- in 1913. He published his second collection, North of Boston , in 1914. In 1915, Frost launched a career of teaching, writing, and lecturing- specifically on the myriad...

Born Elizabeth Roberta Winters on July 20, 1911, in New York City, she was always a bright child who skipped grades and graduated with her bachelor's degree in 1931 at 20. She then graduated with her postgraduate degree in 1940 and began a rich life devoted to writing and teaching. She met Paul Alexander Bartlett in 1941, a fellow writer and artist. They were married in 1943 and had one child,...

Philip Berry is a doctor from London. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in Black Bough, Poetry Birmingham, The Healing Muse, Deracine, and Dream Noir. He also has several books, a medical ethics blog, and more- which you can find through his website at  www.philberrycreative.wordpress.com . You can also connect with him on social media through the tag @philaberry.

Dorothy Parker was born Dorothy Rothschild on August 22, 1893, in New Jersey. She sold her first poem in 1914 to Vanity Fair, which launched a 20+ year career as a poet, critic, screenwriter, and humorist. She wrote over 300 poems, over 15 movies (including one nominated for an Academy Award), a few short story collections, and more. She was also a Civil Rights advocate and gave her estate to MLKJ...

Miss Sarah S. Mower has been misfortune's child. Disease laid its relentless hand upon her in early childhood. It deprived her of a common school education and the world's sweet intercourse. Such has been its nature, that, except on one occasion, she has not been able to leave home for more than six years. "THE SNOW-DROP" would never have appeared had not life's wintry hour g...

Prince Views was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised in the slums of writer's block. He states that his poetry is "basically a purging of intense emotions and, at times, written introspection."

James Augustine Joyce was born in Dublin on February 2, 1882, and was the oldest of ten surviving children of John Joyce and Mary Jane Murray. At nine years old, James wrote his first poem, "Et Tu, Healy," in response to his father's anger and betrayal after the death of Charles Stewart Parnell. In 1898, he enrolled at University College to study English, French, and Italian. While t...

John Frederick Freeman was born on January 29, 1880 in London. When he was 13, he got a job as an office boy in an insurance firm and went on to have a successful career before quitting to write poetry full-time. He met Walter De La Mare in 1907, and the two poets became fast friends. Freeman won the Hawthornden Prize in 1920 for his poetry collection, and he ended up writing sixteen bodies of wor...

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke was born on December 4, 1875, in Prague. In 1886, he was enrolled in a military academy, where he attended until an illness forced him out in 1891. He then enrolled in a trade school but got expelled in 1892. After getting expelled, he took his writing seriously and published Life and Songs, his first poetry collection, in 1894. In 1896, Rilke moved to Mu...

William Bliss Carman was born on April 15, 1861, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. While at school, Carman discovered a love of classical literature through the poetry of Dante Rossetti and Algernon Swinburne. It inspired him to write, and he published his first poem in the University's monthly paper in 1879. Overall, William Carman published 13 books of poetry and several books of prose...

John Mullen was attached to the art world for 11 years while he worked to supply an artist with ideas (and got paid a pittance for it). However, that job allowed him the space to steep himself in art (and literature, to a point). Mullen has a real love for artists and feels that they contribute to society in more ways than is appreciated. He also believes that the imagination (taking from Blakean...

Ardelia Marie Cotton was Born July 22, 1836, in Nobleboro, Lincoln County, Maine, to Henry Page Cotton and Emeline Seiders. She married Benjamin Franklin Barton in 1872, ended up moving to California at some point, and passed on November 9, 1914, at the age of 78. During her life, she wrote at least five books that we know of, most of them poetry collections, all of which received favorable review...

( Explicit warning for disturbing visuals ) Brandon D. Henry is a Texas-based author who's been writing and publishing for over twenty years. He specializes in writing horror stories and gothic poems and likes to draw inspiration from both fantasy and fact. Henry has 48 horror collections published through Straightjacket Publications, and you can find them all through his Amazon profile . We a...

Hello! It's me, Erynn- the creator and host of the Present Poetry Podcast! Earlier this month was Present Poetry's ONE-YEAR anniversary, and I cannot thank you enough for the support you've given this podcast. To celebrate, we're expanding! Present Poetry now has a Twitter Account , a Facebook Page , and (very soon), a Website! Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy more Present Poe...

Walter Horatio Pater was born on August 4, 1839, and was the second son of Dr. Richard Pater. After his father's untimely death, Walter's family moved to Enfield, where Walter attended the Enfield Grammar School until 1853 when he left to attend the King's School in Canterbury. While there, Walter read John Ruskin's Modern Painters, which inspired a love of art and prose. He eventu...

Anne Hunter was born to Robert Boyne Home of Greenlaw Castle, Berwickshire, in 1742. She was the eldest daughter, and while we don't know much about her early life, we do know that She began writing as early as the 1760s. In 1765, her lyrical poem "Flowers of the Forest" was published in The Lark , an Edinburgh periodical, and offered her a moment of fame. In 1771, she married acclai...