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Marie Howe Selects janan alexandra as Winner of 2023 Adrienne Rich AwardMarie Howe Selects janan alexandra as Winner of 2023 Adrienne Rich Award

Marie Howe Selects janan alexandra as Winner of 2023 Adrienne Rich Award

Of alexandra's poem, Marie Howe writes, "I kept coming back to this poem—which looks deceptively simple: folding sheets at the communal laundry line.  But what it holds is so much: one and many, what is and what might be, you and me, head and heart, garden and the appearance of garden, the present and the future—all bundled into the now of folding, matching one frowning corner of a sheet to another.  Form and Matter indeed. And I felt addressed as a reader, folded in, included in this poet's philosophical reverie, and I felt joy."

We’re grateful to the Adrienne Rich Literary Trust and to all who submitted poems for this year’s contest.

TC Tolbert's The Quiet Practices Available NowTC Tolbert's The Quiet Practices Available Now

TC Tolbert's "The Quiet Practices" Available Now

TC Tolbert's chapbook, "The Quiet Practices," is now available! Visit our shop today to get your hands on a copy of this winner of the 2023 Chad Walsh Chapbook Prize. Jennifer Tseng writes of this collection, “Formally virtuosic and spiritually vital, these miraculous poems are a response to violence and yet they enact durability, tenderness, survival, change, and love.” We know you'll love this urgent, tender collection. Order a copy today.

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Join the Conversation!

We're excited to welcome Craig Beaven to our feature, BPJ Poets In Conversation. He spoke with us about his poem "Portrait of My Daughter in Repose," featured in our latest issue.

Join the Conversation!Join the Conversation!

Join the Conversation!

We're excited to welcome Jason B. Crawford to our feature, BPJ Poets In Conversation. They spoke with us about their poem "3-Man Weave: Learning to Braid," featured in our latest issue.

Jane Hirshfield Selects Anna Laura Reeve as Winner of 2022 Adrienne Rich AwardJane Hirshfield Selects Anna Laura Reeve as Winner of 2022 Adrienne Rich Award

Jane Hirshfield Selects Anna Laura Reeve as Winner of 2022 Adrienne Rich Award

Of Anna Laura Reeve's poem, Jane Hirshfield writes, "The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale” brilliantly uses its device of psychology-evaluation questionnaire and the responses' contrasting (and changing) diction to bring readers into its interior and exterior landscape with vividness, exactitude, surety, and the discoveries of language's own imaginative powers. Surface objectivity and calmness become increasingly transparent to what is described: the lived experience, feelings, thought, and condition of spirit of the mother of a premature new-born over time. From birthing room forward, this poem is entirely revelatory and harrowing."

We’re grateful to the Adrienne Rich Literary Trust and to all who submitted poems for this year’s contest.