Prose? Poetry? Who knows? My collaborator Stephanie Farrow and I have discussed this topic endlessly. Where is the line between poetry and prose? Is a story poem just prose with line breaks? Does a poem have to be obscure to qualify as art? I’ve explored these questions and many others with participants at conferences for…
At the Story Circle Network Conference “Writing from the Heart V” in Austin, Texas presented a workshop “Story Poems: A Tool for Writing Our Stories.” At the Missouri Writers Guild Conference I presented a variation called: “Prose? Poetry? Who knows?” I enjoy exploring the line between the two genres. We toggle back and forth and…
by Billy Collins from The Apple that Astonished Paris During my Poem-of-the-Day series on Riehlife we’ll have a mixture of named poets & others just like the rest of us. My friend Stephanie Farrow in Albuquerque, New Mexico chooses the Big Name Poets. She sends her picks out via email every day. I’ll be scooping…
Want to know more about story poems as a tool for writing memoir? Listen to this Story Circle Network podcast with Janet Riehl.
When Victor Volkman hosted me on Authors Airwaves, he said that he was proud to feature a special podcast “Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music” by Janet Riehl. Her book “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” is Janet’s family love story, a remembrance narrated in story poems that traverses the boundaries of life and…
Kendra Bonnett reviews “Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music” on Women’s Memoirs Book Raves. Here’s an excerpt from her review: Although Sightlines is very personal, the reader is not left outside to be a distant observer, peering through a cracked door or listening at the keyhole. The reader recognizes the history, the…
Valerie’s review rating: 5 of 5 stars bookshelves: highly-recommend status: Read in July, 2008 Janet Grace Riehl writes with the honesty, openness and heart of someone who deeply loves life, but is not shy at hitting, straight on, the messes we have to clean up or the sorrows we must bear. Her collection, “diary” as…