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• Expressing Identity Through Bio Poems

Poetry is a powerful tool for self-expression and reflection. One captivating form of poetry that allows individuals to share their unique stories is the bio poem. A bio poem is a structured poem that provides a glimpse into a person's life, thoughts, and experiences. By capturing key aspects of their identity, bio poems become a canvas for personal expression. In this article, we will explore the beauty of bio poems by providing examples that showcase the diverse ways in which individuals can tell their stories.

Example 1: A Bio Poem Celebrating Strength

Example 2: a bio poem reflecting on life's journey, example 3: a bio poem celebrating creativity.

Miranda Courageous, determined, and resilient Lover of adventure, seeker of the unknown Who feels exhilaration in the face of challenge Who fears conformity and mediocrity Who would like to see a world united in compassion Resident of a heart filled with wanderlust Smith

In this example, Miranda presents herself as a person filled with strength and determination. She embraces her love for adventure and seeks to push her boundaries. Miranda's poem also reveals her desire for a more empathetic world, emphasizing her longing for unity and compassion.

Liam Dreamer, philosopher, eternal student Lover of books, melodies, and starry nights Who feels the weight of time's passing moments Who fears the regrets of an unlived life Who would like to see a world connected by empathy Resident of a mind always seeking knowledge Johnson

Liam's bio poem reflects his introspective nature and thirst for knowledge. The poem suggests that he cherishes the beauty of literature, music, and the cosmos. By highlighting his fear of an unlived life, Liam emphasizes the importance of seizing opportunities and making the most of each passing moment.

Amelia Imaginative, artistic, free-spirited soul Lover of colors, melodies, and blank canvases Who feels joy in each stroke of a paintbrush Who fears the silence of a creative block Who would like to see a world where art is valued Resident of a heart that beats to a creative rhythm Anderson

Amelia's bio poem celebrates her creative spirit and passion for artistic expression. The poem suggests that she finds immense joy and fulfillment in the act of painting. Her fear of a creative block highlights the vulnerability and sensitivity that often accompanies the artistic process.

Bio poems offer a beautiful and concise way to express one's identity, aspirations, and fears. Through carefully chosen words and structured lines, individuals can create poetic snapshots of their lives. Whether celebrating strengths, reflecting on life's journey, or honoring creativity, bio poems provide an opportunity for self-reflection and connection. So why not give it a try? Write your own bio poem and embrace the power of poetry to tell your unique story.

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How to Teach Your Students to Write Biography Poems

Students can tell their stories in a playful way

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Biography poems, or Bio poems, are a quick and easy way for young students to learn poetry . They allow students to express their personality and introduce themselves to others, making them a perfect activity for the first day of school. Bio poems can also be used to describe someone else, making them perfect for history lessons or other subjects where students might be studying key historical figures. You will see in the examples below that students can research someone like Rosa Parks , then create a Bio poem on her.

What Are Bio Poems?

Below, you can read three examples of Bio Poems. One is about a teacher, one is about a student, and one is about a famous person that students researched.

Sample Bio Poem of a Teacher

Kind, funny, hard-working, loving

Sister of Amy

Lover of Computers, Friends, and Harry Potter books

Who feels excited on the first day of school, sad when she watches the news, and happy to open a new book

Who needs people, books, and computers

Who gives help to students, smiles to her husband, and letters to family and friends

Who fears war, hunger, and bad days

Who would like to visit the pyramids in Egypt , teach the world’s greatest third graders, and read on the beach in Hawaii

Resident of California

Sample Bio Poem of a Student

Athletic, strong, determined, fast

Son of Janelle and Nathan and brother to Reesa

Loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, sports, and Baked Beans

Who feels happy when playing with friends, and happy when playing sports and being with his family

Who needs books, family, and Legos to by happy in life

Who makes people laugh when someone is sad, who likes to gives smiles, and loves hugging

Fears the dark, spiders, clowns

Would like to visit Paris, France

Resident of Buffalo

Sample Bio Poem of a Person Researched

Determined, Brave, Strong, Caring

Wife of Raymond Parks, and mother of her children

Who loved freedom, education, and equality

Who loved to stand up for her beliefs, loved to help others, disliked discrimination

Who feared racism would never end, who feared she wouldn't be able to make a difference, who feared she wouldn't have enough courage to fight

Who changed history by standing up to others and making a difference in equality

Who wanted to see an end to discrimination, a world that was equal, and respect was given to all

Born in Alabama, and resident in Detroit

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How to Write a Biopoem

Last Updated: September 5, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was reviewed by Annaliese Dunne . Annaliese Dunne is a Middle School English Teacher. With over 10 years of teaching experience, her areas of expertise include writing and grammar instruction, as well as teaching reading comprehension. She is also an experienced freelance writer. She received her Bachelor's degree in English. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 72,050 times.

A biopoem is a poem with a very specific formula. It describes a person, and it is 10 lines long. You can write a biopoem about yourself or about someone else; the formula works either way.

Constructing a Biopoem

• Fierce unyielding brave tall
• Son of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, husband of Mary Lincoln
• Lover of freedom, tall hats, and good speeches
• Who felt patriotism for his country and who felt grief at a divided nation
• Who feared what would become of a divided country, feared the south would win, feared the costs of war
• Who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and who won the Civil War
• Who wanted to see the nation whole again
• Born in Kentucky, died at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC

Writing and Formatting a Biopoem

Sample Biopoem

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• ↑ https://www.readwritethink.org/sites/default/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson398/biopoem.pdf
• ↑ https://www.canteach.ca/resources/english-language-arts/poetry/how-to-write-a-bio-poem/
• ↑ https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/bio-poem-connecting-identity-and-poetry
• ↑ https://www.dyslexiasupportservices.com.au/pdf_files/BioPoem.pdf
• ↑ https://www.pebblego.com/sites/default/files/files/Bio%20Poem.pdf

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How to Write a Poetry Bio for Beginners

“ At one point I had no idea what to put in my writer’s bio when I was first published and I had to scramble to find out the best way to go about it.”  – dimitrireyespoet.com

One of the most satisfying things that come out of working with my Patreon poets are the ways in which they improve each time we speak to each other. They’re proof that as long as the writer is always looking forward and working on themselves— whether that’s by reading, writing, or creating in a myriad of different ways — there is incremental improvement in their work. Emerging poet, Cathlin Noonan is a great example. 

Quite recently, Cathlin has received her first publication acceptance (yay!) and reached out to me seeking counsel on how to create a bio and this brought me BACK! At one point I had NO IDEA what to put in my writer’s bio when I was first published and I had to scramble to find out the best way to go about it. Admittedly, my first few publications went through different versions of my bio until I finally found a template I was comfortable with so I wanted to make sure to cut out the awkward and prepare Cathlin a bio that she’d be able to build upon in time.

Because of technology, I was also able to record our conversation where (of course!) I drop several golden nuggets (which are quite possibly secrets!) about how to navigate a bio and even how to build relationships with publishers. Please watch the full video that shows a bit of the process and thinking behind a well-structured bio. By the end, you’ll know How to Write a Poetry Bio for Beginners.

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The 10 Best Biographies of Poets

The best biographies of poets compiled in this list represent a range of eras, poetic movements, and poets as different from each other as can be. But they do all have one thing in common: these poets rocked the world of poetry, and literature at large, forever changing how we think about verse. This list includes not just biographies of English poets, but also biographies of famous poets from other places on the globe. In this list of literary biographies, you’ll learn more about the lives of literature’s greatest poets in some of the best author biographies around. And now on to the books!

But first, if you like this article about poetry, definitely check out this blog’s guide to “Learn Poetry Writing with the 17 Best Books on Writing Poetry.”

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And now for the 10 best biographies of poets!

Being shelley: the poet’s search for himself  by ann wroe.

If you’re looking for famous English poetry biographies, this one is a good fit. Percy Bysshe Shelley died young, leaving behind his wife, Mary Shelley, who later went on to write the extraordinarily radical Frankenstein . But though he lived a short life, Shelley lived a full one, and it’s that life we learn about in Ann Wroe’s Being Shelley: The Poet’s Search for Himself . What distinguishes this book from other biographies of Shelley is Wroe’s skilled ability to bring to life Shelley’s sense of purpose when it came to his writing. In that way, Being Shelley portrays the poet’s existential quest to understand himself as an artist and feed his ambitious desire to be a poet in every sense of the identity. This biography offers a deep dive into the inner life of one of the world’s greatest poets.

How to read it: Purchase Being Shelley on Amazon

The bughouse: the poetry, politics, and madness of ezra pound by daniel swift.

American poet Ezra Pound is best remembered for his poetry, but in The Bughouse: The Poetry, Politics, and Madness of Ezra Pound , Daniel Swift explores the poet’s relationship to madness. This book is definitely among the best author biographies anywhere. Doomed to stand trial for producing fascist broadcasts in Italy during the Second World Wide, instead Pound was found to be insane and locked up in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., a mental institution. It’s there that Pound’s prominent circle of friends came to call, including T. S. Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, and William Carlos Williams. The result is a biography not just of Pound but the entire Modernist movement’s leading artists, making a key contribution to literary biographies.

How to read it: Purchase The Bughouse on Amazon

Heav’nly tidings from the afric muse: the grace and genius of phillis wheatley by richard kigel.

This book is a compelling biography of Phillis Wheatley, whom biographer Richard Kigel has deemed the “true Poet Laureate of the American Revolution.” Kigel’s biography contextualizesWheatley’s poetry within the era she lived when she managed to find freedom after being a slave. What happens next is Wheatley’s feverishly paced writing career, which Kigel situates within the context of African American literature and women’s literature of the time. What we’re left with is deft criticism and strong praise of Wheatley’s work as informed by her remarkable life in this superb book, certainly one of the best author biographies.

How to read it: Purchase Heav’nly Tidings from the Afric Muse on Amazon

Keats: a brief life in nine poems and one epitaph by lucasta miller.

John Keats is one of my favorite poets, and this is one of the best biographies of poets around. We’ve already had an exceptional biographical movie of Keats ( Bright Star ), so why do we need yet another biography of Keats? Well, it turns out we can stand to have one more Keats biography, and this one is the mic drop of them all; in Lucasta Miller’s Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph , Keats’ life is organized around nine of his poems and one epitaph. Miller excavates Keats’ life to see how it influenced some of his most incredible poems. What this biography does so well is braid Keats’ life with Keats’ creativity, showing how one interacted with the other in this tour-de-force of a book that’s definitely one of the best biographies of English poets.

How to read it: Purchase Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph on Amazon

Neruda: the biography of a poet by mark eisner.

This biography of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda—a finalist for the PEN/Bograd Weld Prize for Biography—finally reveals this groundbreaking poet’s fascinating life, which ranks among the best literary biographies. Author Mark Eisner has skillfully woven together several strands of Neruda’s life, including his personal history; Latin American culture, history, and politics; and his career as a poet. Eisner has crafted an authoritative yet extremely accessible biography of this influential poet.

How to read it: Purchase Neruda: The Biography of a Poet on Amazon

Red comet: the short life and blazing art of sylvia plath by heather clark.

A Pulitzer Prize finalist, Red Comet is an exceptional biography of Sylvia Plath and definitely counts as one of the best biographies of poets. It might seem hard to believe that there’s anything left to say of Plath, given that she has inspired multiple biographies before Red Comet . Yet this one stands out because of its unique approach to put Plath’s work front and center. Biographer Heather Clark here expands on what we thought we knew about Plath, sifting through previously unavailable source materials and viewing Plath’s life not for the sole purpose of tragedy porn, which has surrounded much of Plath’s life since she took her life in 1963 at age 30. Instead, Clark has crafted perhaps the first fully realized biography of this consequential poet whose short life, her extraordinary writing, and her significant legacy shattered the world. Sitting at close to 2,000 pages, Red Comet is the definitive biography of Sylvia Plath.

How to read it: Purchase Red Comet on Amazon

Robert lowell, setting the river on fire: a study of genius, mania, and character by kay redfield jameson.

In this unique and creative biography, psychologist Kay Redfield Jameson sifts through the mind of renowned Confessional poet Robert Lowell. As a writer who shares Lowell’s diagnosis of bipolar disorder, Jameson analyzes Lowell’s life through a unique perspective. Jameson, whose memoir Touched with Fire I recommended in this blog’s article on “ The 20 Best Books about Bipolar Disorder,” finds connections between Lowell’s life-long battle with mental illness and the astonishing poetry he penned both during times of suffering and times of remission. What we’re left with is a thorough understanding of how Lowell’s moods impacted his writing and vice versa. Jameson has done a real service to Lowell in this book, for sure one of the best biographies of poets.

How to read it: Purchase Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire on Amazon

Savage beauty: the life of edna st. vincent millay by nancy milford.

Historian Nancy Milford here trains her gaze on a formidable heroine: the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. In this biography, Milford distills the woman from the myth, creating a thorough yet engaging biography of the poet who would revolutionize her field and go on to become the first woman ever to win the Pulitzer Prize. In Savage Beauty , Millay comes alive like never before.

How to read it: Purchase Savage Beauty on Amazon

These fevered days: ten pivotal moments in the making of emily dickinson by martha ackmann.

American poet Emily Dickinson penned well over 1,500 poems, but she was seen in her lifetime as was seemingly “quiet.” She stayed inside mostly and kept to her home, yet she lived an extremely intellectual and creative life that forever changed poetry. In These Fevered Days , Martha Ackmann drills down deep to ten pivotal days in Dickinson’s life, unearthing these consequential moments that helped shape Dickinson into the woman and poet she was. If you’re someone who struggles with conventional biographies, which, let’s be honest, can be both bloated and boring, this is the book for you with its inventive, engaging structure. Read it and see what makes These Fevered Days one of the best biographies of poets.

How to read it: Purchase These Fevered Days on Amazon

The whole harmonium: the life of wallace stevens by paul mariani.

Closing out our list of the best biographies of poets is The Whole Harmonium , in which biographer Paul Mariani takes poet Wallace Stevens as his subject. Mariani’s biography is unique because it seeks to find the connections between Stevens’ work as a poet and his self-confessed purpose to find and translate the sublime into art. See why Booklist wrote, in a starred review, that The Whole Harmonium is an “incandescent….redefining biography of a major poet whose reputation continues to ascend.”

How to read it: Purchase The Whole Harmonium on Amazon

And there you have it the 10 best biographies of poets. which one will you read first, share this:.

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Write a Bio Poem

What is a bio poem? Bio is short for biography. A biography is the author's story of another person's life. A bio poem is like a biography. It's a poem written about someone else. The author writes the poem about a person, character, or animal. To write a bio poem, the author must know quite a lot about the subject.

Read the following bio poem. It's based on a character from the Oz series of books written by L. Frank Baum.

Dorothy Gale Dorothy

Helpful, kind, caring, brave,

Sister to no one,

Lover of rainbows,

Who fears wicked witches,

Needs help getting home,

Gives hugs to her friends,

Dreams of seeing Auntie Em again,

Lives in Kansas

Print Write a Bio Poem reading comprehension.

Print a read and math workbook with Write a Bio Poem reading comprehension.

You need to use this workbook in your classroom. great mix of reading and math..

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Writing Your Author Bio? Here Are 20 Great Examples. (Plus a Checklist!)

October 15, 2020 by Diana Urban

Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a well-crafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting. You should regularly maintain your bio on places like your BookBub Author Profile so fans and potential readers seeking you out can learn more about you and why they should pick up your latest book.

Stuck on what to include? While there is no one-size-fits-all formula, here are some examples of author bios we love so you can get some inspiration when crafting your own bio. We’ve also created an Author Biography Checklist with recommendations on what to include, as well as where to keep your author bio up to date online.

Download a printable checklist!

Subscribe to the BookBub Partners Blog to download this checklist as a printable PDF, and keep it handy any time you want to write or update your author bio!

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1. Ramona Emerson

Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. She has a bachelor’s in Media Arts from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. After starting in forensic videography, she embarked upon a career as a photographer, writer, and editor. She is an Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab Fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller Fellow, a Tribeca All-Access Grantee and a WGBH Producer Fellow. In 2020, Emerson was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Film and Media Industries for the State of New Mexico. She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband, the producer Kelly Byars, run their production company Reel Indian Pictures. Shutter is her first novel.

Why we love it: Ramona makes a splash as a new author by detailing her extensive experience in both writing and filmmaking. Her background makes an effective setup for her debut novel about a forensic photographer.

2. Courtney Milan

Courtney Milan writes books about carriages, corsets, and smartwatches. Her books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly , Library Journal , and Booklist . She is a New York Times and a USA Today Bestseller. Courtney pens a weekly newsletter about tea, books, and basically anything and everything else. Sign up for it here: https://bit.ly/CourtneysTea Before she started writing romance, Courtney got a graduate degree in theoretical physical chemistry from UC Berkeley. After that, just to shake things up, she went to law school at the University of Michigan and graduated summa cum laude. Then she did a handful of clerkships. She was a law professor for a while. She now writes full-time. Courtney is represented by Kristin Nelson of the Nelson Literary Agency.

Why we love it: Courtney concisely leads with her accolades and bestseller status before diving into more personal information with a witty tone. She also includes a call-to-action for readers to sign up to Weekly Tea, one of her mailing lists.

3. Adam Silvera

Adam Silvera is the number one New York Times bestselling author of More Happy Than Not , History Is All You Left Me , They Both Die at the End , Infinity Son , Infinity Reaper , and—with Becky Albertalli— What If It’s Us . He was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for his debut. Adam was born and raised in the Bronx. He was a bookseller before shifting to children’s publishing and has worked at a literary development company and a creative writing website for teens and as a book reviewer of children’s and young adult novels. He is tall for no reason and lives in Los Angeles. Visit him online at www.adamsilvera.com .

Why we love it: Adam begins his bio with his bestseller accolades and a list of his popular titles. But we especially love how he also includes his previous experience in children’s literature. It’s a fantastic way an author can craft a unique and credible bio using information besides accolades or bestseller status.

4. Farrah Rochon

USA Today Bestselling author Farrah Rochon hails from a small town just west of New Orleans. She has garnered much acclaim for her Crescent City-set Holmes Brothers series and her Moments in Maplesville small town series. Farrah is a two-time finalist for the prestigious RITA Award from the Romance Writers of America and has been nominated for an RT BOOKReviews Reviewers Choice Award. In 2015, she received the Emma Award for Author of the Year. When she is not writing in her favorite coffee shop, Farrah spends most of her time reading, cooking, traveling the world, visiting Walt Disney World, and catching her favorite Broadway shows. An admitted sports fanatic, she feeds her addiction to football by watching New Orleans Saints games on Sunday afternoons. Keep in touch with Farrah via the web: Website: https://www.farrahrochon.com/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/farrahrochonauthor Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FarrahRochon Instagram: https://instagram.com/farrahrochon/ Newsletter: http://bit.ly/2povjuZ Join my online Fan Club, the Rochonettes! https://www.facebook.com/groups/FarrahRochon/ Farrah’s Books In Order: The Holmes Brothers Deliver Me (Mar. 2007) Release Me (May 2008) Rescue Me (Jan. 2009) Chase Me (Jan. 2017) Trust Me (May 2017) Awaken Me (Jan. 2018) Cherish Me (Jun. 2018) Return To Me (Aug. 2019) New York Sabers Huddle With Me Tonight (Sept. 2010) I’ll Catch You (Mar. 2011) Field of Pleasure (Sept. 2011) Pleasure Rush (Mar. 2012) Bayou Dreams A Forever Kind of Love (Aug. 2012) Always and Forever (Jan. 2013) Yours Forever (Mar. 2014) Forever’s Promise (Apr. 2014) Forever With You (Feb. 2015) Stay With Me Forever (Aug. 2015) Moments in Maplesville A Perfect Holiday Fling (Nov. 2012) A Little Bit Naughty (Mar. 2013) Just A Little Taste (Jan. 2014) I Dare You! (Nov. 2014) All You Can Handle (June 2015) Any Way You Want It (Feb. 2016) Any Time You Need Me (June 2016) Standalones In Her Wildest Dreams (Jan. 2012) The Rebound Guy (July 2012) Delectable Desire (Apr. 2013) Runaway Attraction (Nov. 2013) A Mistletoe Affari (Nov. 2014) Passion’s Song (Feb. 2016) Mr. Right Next Door (Sept. 2016) Anthologies A Change of Heart (The Holiday Inn Anthology – Sept. 2008) No Ordinary Gift (Holiday Brides Anthology – Oct. 2009) Holiday Spice (Holiday Temptation Anthology – Sept. 2016) Christmas Kisses (Reissue–Contains Tuscan Nights and Second-Chance Christmas previously published by Harlequin Kimani

Why we love it: Farrah packs a lot of information into that first paragraph, elegantly describing the awards she’s received and has been nominated for. We also love how she makes it easy for readers to find her on whichever social media platform they prefer and to discover which book to start with for each series.

5. Angie Fox

New York Times bestselling author Angie Fox writes sweet, fun, action-packed mysteries. Her characters are clever and fearless, but in real life, Angie is afraid of basements, bees, and going up stairs when it is dark behind her. Let’s face it. Angie wouldn’t last five minutes in one of her books. Angie is best known for her Southern Ghost Hunter mysteries and for her Accidental Demon Slayer books. Visit her at www.angiefox.com

Why we love it: We love how Angie distinguishes herself from her characters, making herself relatable to readers. She also mentions her bestseller status and best-known works in a humble way.

6. Tiffany D. Jackson

Tiffany D. Jackson is the critically acclaimed author of Allegedly , Monday’s Not Coming , and Let Me Hear a Rhyme . A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book and Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe New Talent Award winner, she received her bachelor of arts in film from Howard University, earned her master of arts in media studies from the New School, and has over a decade in TV and film experience. The Brooklyn native still resides in the borough she loves. You can visit her at www.writeinbk.com .

Why we love it: This is an excellent example of a short, concise bio — a perfect snippet for journalists, bloggers, or event coordinators who need to grab Tiffany’s bio for their article or programming.

7. Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander is the New York Times Bestselling author of 32 books, including The Undefeated ; How to Read a Book ; Solo ; Swing ; Rebound , which was shortlisted for prestigious Carnegie Medal; and his Newbery medal-winning middle grade novel, The Crossover . He’s also the founding editor of Versify, an imprint that aims to Change the World One Word at a Time. Visit him at KwameAlexander.com

Why we love it: We adore how Kwame calls out his aim to “change the world one word at a time” along with a handful of his best-known books. Short and sweet!

8. Glynnis Campbell

For deals, steals, and new releases from Glynnis, click FOLLOW on this BookBub page! Glynnis Campbell is a USA Today bestselling author of over two dozen swashbuckling action-adventure historical romances, mostly set in Scotland, and a charter member of The Jewels of Historical Romance — 12 internationally beloved authors. She’s the wife of a rock star and the mother of two young adults, but she’s also been a ballerina, a typographer, a film composer, a piano player, a singer in an all-girl rock band, and a voice in those violent video games you won’t let your kids play. Doing her best writing on cruise ships, in Scottish castles, on her husband’s tour bus, and at home in her sunny southern California garden, Glynnis loves to play medieval matchmaker… transporting readers to a place where the bold heroes have endearing flaws, the women are stronger than they look, the land is lush and untamed, and chivalry is alive and well! Want a FREE BOOK? Sign up for her newsletter at https://www.glynnis.net Tag along on her latest adventures here: Website: https://www.glynnis.net Facebook: bit.ly/GCReadersClan Goodreads: bit.ly/GlynnisGoodreads Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/GlynnisCampbell Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GlynnisCampbell Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/GlynnisCampbell BOOK LIST: The Warrior Maids of Rivenloch: THE SHIPWRECK A YULETIDE KISS LADY DANGER CAPTIVE HEART KNIGHT’S PRIZE The Warrior Daughters of Rivenloch: THE STORMING A RIVENLOCH CHRISTMAS BRIDE OF FIRE BRIDE OF ICE BRIDE OF MIST The Knights of de Ware: THE HANDFASTING MY CHAMPION MY WARRIOR MY HERO Medieval Outlaws: THE REIVER DANGER’S KISS PASSION’S EXILE DESIRE’S RANSOM Scottish Lasses: THE OUTCAST MacFARLAND’S LASS MacADAM’S LASS MacKENZIE’S LASS California Legends: THE STOWAWAY NATIVE GOLD NATIVE WOLF NATIVE HAWK

Why we love it: Like other authors, Glynnis leads with her bestseller status, but not before making sure readers know to follow her on BookBub! We like how her personality shines through in her all-caps calls to action and that she includes the characteristics of her books in a fun way so readers will know what to expect from her work.

9. Laurelin Paige

Laurelin Paige is the NY Times , Wall Street Journal , and USA Today bestselling author of the Fixed Trilogy . She’s a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching edgy black comedy on Netflix or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio. You can connect with Laurelin on Facebook at facebook.com/LaurelinPaige or on twitter @laurelinpaige. You can also visit her website, laurelinpaige.com , to sign up for emails about new releases. Subscribers also receive a free book from a different bestselling author every month.

Why we love it: We love Laurelin’s bio because she lets her fun personality shine through! She also includes information about a monthly giveaway she runs through her mailing list, which is enticing and unique.

10. Mia Sosa

Mia Sosa is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic comedies. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly , Kirkus Reviews , Booklist , and Library Journal , and have been praised by Cosmopolitan , The Washington Post , Buzzfeed , Entertainment Weekly , and more. Book Riot included her debut, Unbuttoning the CEO , in its list of 100 Must-Read Romantic Comedies, and Booklist recently called her “the new go-to author for fans of sassy and sexy contemporary romances.” A former First Amendment and media lawyer, Mia practiced for more than a decade before trading her suits for loungewear (okay, okay, they’re sweatpants). Now she strives to write fun and flirty stories about imperfect characters finding their perfect match. Mia lives in Maryland with her husband, their two daughters, and an adorable dog that rules them all. For more information about Mia and her books, visit www.miasosa.com .

Why we love it: This is such a well-constructed bio, with a paragraph for each (1) listing accolades and praise from trade reviews, (2) including a blurb about Mia’s overall author brand, (3) describing her previous work experience and how she became an author, and (4) sharing personal information and directing readers to where they could learn more.

11. Aiden Thomas

Aiden Thomas is a trans, Latinx, New York Times Bestselling Author with an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, OR. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color. Their books include Cemetery Boys and Lost in the Never Woods .

Why we love it: A well-known advocate of diverse books, Aiden leads with their identity markers to connect right away with readers of similar identities. The rest of their concise bio fits information about their bestseller status, education, location, personality, and popular titles into just a few short sentences!

12. Wayne Stinnett

Wayne Stinnett is an American novelist and Veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Between those careers, he’s worked as a deckhand, commercial fisherman, divemaster, taxi driver, construction manager, and over the road truck driver, among many other things. He now lives on a sea island, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, with his wife and youngest daughter. They also have three grown children, five grand children, three dogs and a whole flock of parakeets. Stinnett grew up in Melbourne, Florida and has also lived in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Cozumel, Mexico. His next dream is to one day visit and dive Cuba.

Why we love it: What better way to introduce an author of novels about travel, seafaring, and military adventures than to share his first-hand experiences! By weaving in relevant professional background and a glimpse of his home life by the sea, Wayne demonstrates deep knowledge of his subjects to his readers, as well as connecting with them on a personal level by describing his family and goals for the future.

13. June Hur

June Hur was born in South Korea and raised in Canada, except for the time when she moved back to Korea and attended high school there. She studied History and Literature at the University of Toronto. She began writing her debut novel after obsessing over books about Joseon Korea. When she’s not writing, she can be found wandering through nature or journaling at a coffee shop. June is the bestselling author of The Silence of Bones , The Forest of Stolen Girls , and The Red Palace , and currently lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter.

Why we love it: We love how June includes her background and what inspired her writing. Sharing a story’s origins is a wonderful way to meaningfully connect with readers.

14. Claire Delacroix

Bestselling author Claire Delacroix published her first medieval romance in 1993. Since then, she has published over seventy romance novels and numerous novellas, including time travel romances, contemporary romances and paranormal romances. The Beauty , part of her successful Bride Quest series, was her first book to land on the New York Times list of bestselling books. Claire has written under the name Claire Cross and continues to write as Deborah Cooke as well as Claire Delacroix. Claire makes her home in Canada with her family, a large undisciplined garden and a growing number of incomplete knitting projects. Sign up for Claire’s monthly medieval romance newsletter at: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/622ca9849b7136a9e313df83 Visit Claire’s website to find out more about her books at http://delacroix.net

Why we love it: While Claire has an extensive backlist, she succinctly describes her publishing success and subgenres. She also includes all of her pen names so readers can easily find her, no matter which name they’re looking for.

15. Vanessa Riley

Vanessa Riley writes Historical Fiction and Historical Romance (Georgian, Regency, & Victorian) featuring hidden histories, dazzling multi-culture communities, and strong sisterhoods. She promises to pull heart strings, offer a few laughs, and share tidbits of tantalizing history. This Southern, Irish, Trini (West Indies) girl holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and a MS in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University. She also earned a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Penn State University. Yet, her love of history and lattes have overwhelmed her passion for math, leading to the publication of over 20+ titles. She loves writing on her southern porch with proper caffeine.

Why we love it: Vanessa launches into her bio by sharing the specific time periods she writes in, as well as the diverse characters and emotions her readers can look forward to, appealing directly to her ideal audience . She then shares a bit of personal info, leaving readers with an image of her in her element: writing on a porch while sipping tea.

16. April White

April White has been a film producer, private investigator, bouncer, teacher and screenwriter. She has climbed in the Himalayas, survived a shipwreck, and lived on a gold mine in the Yukon. She and her husband share their home in Southern California with two extraordinary boys and a lifetime collection of books. Her first novel, Marking Time , is the 2016 winner of the Library Journal Indie E-Book Award for YA Literature, and her contemporary romantic suspense, Code of Conduct , was a Next Generation Indie Award and RONE Award Finalist. All five books in the Immortal Descendants series are on the Amazon Top 100 lists in Time Travel Romance and Historical Fantasy. More information and her blog can be found at www.aprilwhitebooks.com .

Why we love it: April’s bio is short and sweet, but is packed with interesting information. She was a private investigator and survived a shipwreck? How can you not want to learn more about this author? She also elegantly includes her books’ status and subgenre in the last paragraph, along with a call-to-action for readers to learn more.

17. Julia Quinn

#1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn loves to dispel the myth that smart women don’t read (or write) romance, and if you watch reruns of the game show The Weakest Link you might just catch her winning the $79,000 jackpot. She displayed a decided lack of knowledge about baseball, country music, and plush toys, but she is proud to say that she aced all things British and literary, answered all of her history and geography questions correctly, and knew that there was a Da Vinci long before there was a code. On December 25, 2020, Netflix premiered Bridgerton , based on her popular series of novels about the Bridgerton family. Find her on the web at www.juliaquinn.com .

Why we love it: Julia takes a unique approach, making her bio more voicey and focused on her interests. Yet she keeps it up to date, including her latest news in the last sentence (above the call-to-action).

18. Rick Mofina

USA Today bestselling author Rick Mofina is a former journalist who has interviewed murderers on death row, flown over L.A. with the LAPD and patrolled with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police near the Arctic. He’s also reported from the Caribbean, Africa and Kuwait’s border with Iraq. His books have been published in nearly 30 countries, including an illegal translation produced in Iran. His work has been praised by James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffery Deaver, Sandra Brown, James Rollins, Brad Thor, Nick Stone, David Morrell, Allison Brennan, Heather Graham, Linwood Barclay, Peter Robinson, Håkan Nesser and Kay Hooper. The Crime Writers of Canada, The International Thriller Writers and The Private Eye Writers of America have listed his titles among the best in crime fiction. As a two-time winner of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award, a four-time Thriller Award finalist and a two-time Shamus Award finalist, the Library Journal calls him, “One of the best thriller writers in the business.” Join Rick Mofina’s newsletter from his website and receive a free eBook! You can also find Rick Mofina’s new exclusive serialized thriller, The Dying Light , by subscribing to Radish Fiction com For more information please visit www.rickmofina.com https://www.facebook.com/rickmofina or follow Rick on Twitter @Rick Mofina

Why we love it: Including Rick’s first-hand experiences as a journalist lends him credibility in his genres of Crime Fiction and Thrillers. He also includes a list of well-known authors who have praised his work, and these endorsements may encourage those authors’ fans to give Rick a try. The free ebook offer effectively sweetens the deal!

19. J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of the literary TV show A Word on Words . She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker. With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim, prestigious awards, been optioned for television, and has been published in 28 countries. J.T. lives in Nashville with her husband and twin kittens, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

Why we love it: This is a great example of a concise bio suitable for use in any blog or publication. J.T. keeps to just the essential ingredients of a professional author bio: accolades, genres, experience, and a bit of what she’s up to today for a personal touch.

20. James S.A. Corey

James S.A. Corey is the pen name for a collaboration between Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. James is Daniel’s middle name, Corey is Ty’s middle name, and S.A. are Daniel’s daughter’s initials. James’ current project is a series of science fiction novels called The Expanse Series. They are also the authors of Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars (Empire and Rebellion).

Why we love it: We love co-author bios that reveal how the duo came up with their pseudonym as a fun fact for readers! We also like that the reminder of this bio simply points readers straight to their buzziest works.

Want to share this post? Here are ready-made tweets:

Click to tweet: If you’re writing your author bio, these examples are so helpful! #writetip #pubtip http://bit.ly/1OSBcDO

Click to tweet: Make sure to keep your author bio updated! Here are some great bio examples, PLUS a printable checklist of what to include and where to keep it up to date. #amwriting http://bit.ly/1OSBcDO

This post was originally published on October 15 2015 and has been updated with new examples and a PDF checklist!

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Poetry & Poets

Explore the beauty of poetry – discover the poet within

How To Write A Bio For Poetry Submission

Tips for Writing Poetry Submissions

Writing a bio for a poetry submission can be a challenging but rewarding task. Paired with good poetry, a well written bio showcases an author’s writing style and introduces their work to potential readers. Whether submitting to a competitive magazine, agency, or publisher, your bio should stand out and effectively express who you are as a poet.

First and foremost, be honest and concise. Do not list outdated or exaggerated accolades, particularly those that may look good on paper but don’t represent your true writing personality. Instead, focus on only positive, relevant information that might affect the reader’s opinion of your work. For instance, if you are a semifinalist in a writing contest, be sure to include when, where and for which poem it was awarded.

To ensure that your bio is informative and stand out from the competition, consider including a few facts about yourself. Are you a budding poet? What type of themes or feelings does your poetry reflect? Do you belong to any poetry groups or publications? Provide a unique or interesting background story or attribute that makes you unique as a writer.

Always provide a brief sample of your poetry that exemplifies your writing style. Keep it short and to the point, as you will want the readers to focus primarily on your bio and not the work itself.

Next, include links to your blog, website and social media pages so the reader may explore your work more thoroughly. Also consider adding an image to prevent the reader from automatically discarding your submission. Adding an appealing headshot or a visually-interesting image of your book will help create an impression of who you are and make your work stand out from the crowd.

As you complete your bio and prepare the final submission package, remember that the goal is to make a meaningful connection with the reader. Don’t try and sell yourself in too promotional a fashion – be honest and humble in your writing, but confident in your skills.

Developing Your Poetry Style

To produce truly outstanding poetry, authors must have raw talent, sources of inspiration, and a critical eye. While some may have a natural gift for poetry, others may require honing their skills and working diligently to refine them. Expand your poetic writing skills and develop your style, either on your own or by taking a workshop.

The workshop setting allows for personal interaction and critique from not only peers, but from highly acclaimed poets who can provide first-hand guidance and advice. Utilize this opportunity for gathering constructive criticism and build confidence in your writing.

Take the lessons from each meeting, remember the advising of your peers and mentors, and use those teachings to continuously hone your skills and develop your signature style. It will take time and practice to perfect, so don’t expect to be a master poet instantly. By knowing the techniques and understanding when to use them in your writing, you can slowly instill your own definition of lyricism into your words. The process doesn’t have to be arduous; it merely requires an open mind and a patient heart.

It is important to find an excellent poet or a workshop that can support you in various methods such as through online courses, study groups, and one-on-one teaching. Attend lectures and read the work of other poets to evaluate the influence that each of their individual writing styles have on your own. Assemble an array of thought and artwork to examine, learn from and be inspired by. Always remember to rise above the basic fundamentals to discover where true literature exists.

Marketing Poetry Submissions

The editing and proofreading stages are complete and your bio is in order. After carefully selecting the magazines and contests to which you will submit your work, keep an organized list that includes submission guidelines, fees and deadlines. Utilize social media, particularly Twitter and Instagram, to market your work by capturing an audience that appreciates your style. Additionally, consider co-authoring with professionals or including your poems in anthologies or magazines.

Writing competitions are excellent opportunities to promote your work. Though you are unlikely to win every competition to which you submit, simply participating yields its own rewards, such as getting feedback from judges and readers. The more competitions you enter, the greater the chances of your work being noticed; publishers and agencies often scour writing prize lists for talent. As a result, you may find yourself increasing interest in your work.

Create an online presence by creating a website, blog, or both. Set up a contact form, where readers can inquire about your poems and post comments. Feature a few pieces on your site, explain your talents and interests, and link to relevant services and organizations. Finally, write thoughtful, powerful poetry and develop an impressive portfolio of extraordinary works.

Elements of Poetry Writing

In order to produce proper poetry, you must learn to master the fundamentals of language, such as syntax and diction. Understanding these aspects will help you raise the bar of excellence in your writing and make that connection with your readers. Start by familiarizing yourself with the basics—punctuation, rhythm, imagery and meter.

When writing poetry, keep in mind the amount of inspiration necessary to maintain its creativity and originality. It can be easy to become misdirected and dependent on others when writing poetry. To ensure this does not occur, find a reliable source of inspiration that you can turn to when in need. It may come in the form of nature, books, movies or dreams.

To produce a masterpiece, cultivate an analytical attitude and approach the concept of building words with a critical diligence. The accuracy and clarity of the language used should reflect vividness and emotion, and not just the mere summarization of what is said. Leverage a wide breadth of vocabulary to construct, accentuate and portray the desired effect of each individual piece.

Combining structured form and compelling language should be the goal for any poet attempting to make their work entertaining. Ideally, a poem should maximize its poetic features, like figurative language and sound, without reducing its grip on the reader. It’s also important to tweak an old standby to make it new and exciting. Try to find inventive ways to get an audience to engage with a timeless style.

Penning a Unique Poem

In order to stand out from the crowd, poets should strive to make unique or unusual choices. This includes topics, language and form. By creating a unique viewpoint or impressively new ideas, your poem will capture the reader’s attention and I’m sure, thrill them.

For instance, focus on undiscovered situations or incidents that you believe may have been overlooked. Incorporate cultural nuances and distinctive terminology so that the reader views and grasps the full potential of the poem.

Experiment with tone and shift in and out of standard poetic forms. Take risks and challenge conventions – don’t be scared to experiment with a line break, a pause, an unexpected rhyme, or works that tell stories instead of following a specific rhythmic structure.

Once the poem has been written, take the time to read it aloud and record it to be sure the rhythm, emphasis, and words fall into the pattern that you originally intended. If you are having difficulty developing your writing, sometimes it can help to read your poem out loud several times, making adjustments whenever necessary.

No matter what style of poetry you choose to write, never forget that the goal is to make a meaningful connection with readers and the core of your poem should be the creative focus. Crafting a poem that is unique and entertaining is among the most satisfying accomplishments a poet can realize.

Minnie Walters

Minnie Walters is a passionate writer and lover of poetry. She has a deep knowledge and appreciation for the work of famous poets such as William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and many more. She hopes you will also fall in love with poetry!

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augmented’s journey

From Reader to Fan: How to Use Your Author Bio to Build a Following for Your Poetry

Creating an impactful author bio: a must-have tool for poets.

Write the Perfect Author Bio: A Step-by-Step Guide

From reader to fan: it's the dream of every poet. But how do you make that transition? How do you build a following of passionate readers who can't wait to get their hands on your next book? The answer lies in your author bio. Here's how to use your bio to build a following for your poetry

What is an author bio?

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This Collection of Poems Is Skeptical About Poetry’s Value. Or Is It?

Danez Smith’s “Bluff” represents a notable turning point for the poet — and maybe for American poetry as a whole.

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Nam Le is the author, most recently, of the poetry collection “36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem.”

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BLUFF: Poems, by Danez Smith

The intent seems clear from the very first words: “anti poetica.” This is the title of the opening poem in Danez Smith’s “Bluff,” and it’s a title that recurs twice more in the collection. Smith’s commanding litany draws us through a run of negatives — there is “no poem wiser than kindness”; “no poem free from money’s ruin”; “no poem in the winter nor in whiteness” — stopping at:

no poem to admonish the state no poem with a key to the locks no poem to free you

So, renunciation. Here, it seems, is poetry against poetry, against any of its claims of art for art’s sake or real-world application. The next poem, “ars america (in the hold),” hones renunciation into war cry, declaring that “if the stars gave birth” to the cruelty of the slave ships and beyond, then “kill the stars … kill all reason … kill god.” (An Amiri Baraka epigraph follows: “Warriors are poets and poems.”)

So, war. Next come the charges, which are personal, savage, self-excoriating. From “less hope”:

apologies. i was part of the joy industrial complex: told them their bodies were miracles & they ate it up, sold someday , made money off soon & now , snuck an ode into the elegy … they clapped at my eulogies. they said encore, encore . we wanted to stop being killed & they thanked me for beauty &, pitifully, i loved them. i thanked them. i took the awards & cashed the checks. i did the one about the boy when requested, traded their names for followers. in lieu of action, i wrote a book

“Someday” refers to Smith’s long (award-winning) poem “summer, somewhere,” which creates — in, yes, elegiac, beautiful verse — a paradise for murdered Black boys. The “one about the boy” could refer to pretty much any poem from Smith’s three previous books.

“Bluff,” then, represents the anti poetica to those books. It posits Smith at a turning point, as in a poem pointedly titled “volta”: “i need a new bravery. i don’t want to live/a coward’s peace. where’s my mission?/what world comes if i use my hands?” These are the same hands that have — in a fertile phrase — “tendered violence” — for the white gaze, for coin and clout, for politics.

Smith confesses to having been “a slave to slavery, it makes me a/salary, i wanted freedom and they gave me/a name.” Few things are more important in Smith’s poetics than naming. But what happens when the names you call yourself — Black , say, or queer — are put to a different use by “them”? Are yours the only hands on the binds of identity? How can you tell? (“You (you & me) are agent & enemy,” Smith writes.) There’s a startling image in “on knowledge” of a black box with its border stitched in white “I”s; a visual enactment of how Smith — who uses lowercase “i”s — “helped patent/my chain, penned my pen.”

Time, then, not for ego but for action. For less boy and less joy; time to “move my mind/deeper into the dark/question of its use.” The last word in “on knowledge” is action — and it floats completely free from its black square, that icon used so potently by Kazimir Malevich to symbolize artistic rebirth.

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Jonathan Lynn

About the author.

Jonathan Lynn has directed 10 feature films including the cult classic Clue (he also wrote the screenplay), Nuns on the Run (also written by Mr Lynn), My Cousin Vinny, The Distinguished Gentleman, Sgt. Bilko, Greedy, Trial And Error, The Whole Nine Yards, The Fighting Temptations and most recently, Wild Target. His first produced screenplay was The Internecine Project (1974). For television, Jonathan’s writing credits include dozens of episodes of various comedy series but he is best known for the phenomenally successful, multi-award-winning BBC series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, co-written and created with Antony Jay. Jonathan authored the bestselling books The Complete Yes, Minister and The Complete Yes, Prime Minister, which cumulatively sold more than a million copies in hardback and have been translated into numerous languages and are still in print nearly 30 years later; Mayday (1993, recently re-published in a 25th Anniversary edition with a new Preface by the author) and Comedy Rules (Faber and Faber), which also received rave reviews. Jonathan made his first professional appearance on Broadway in the revue Cambridge Circus, and his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, live with 70 million viewers, both at the age of 21. Jonathan’s West End theater debut, aged 23, was as an actor in the role of Motel the Tailor in the original London cast of Fiddler on the Roof. His subsequent London directing credits include: The Glass Menagerie; Songbook (Best Musical, Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award); Anna Christie (RSC, Stratford and the Donmar); Joe Orton's Loot; Pass The Butler by Eric Idle, Shaw’s Arms And The Man and The Gingerbread Man (Old Vic). At the National Theatre, he directed A Little Hotel on the Side by Georges Feydeau and Three Men on A Horse (Olivier Award, Best Comedy). As Artistic Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company, he directed 20 productions, producing 20 others, 9 of which transferred to the West End. He has written two successful plays, Yes Prime Minister (with Antony Jay) and The Patriotic Traitor. His numerous awards include the BAFTA Writers Award, Writers Guild (twice), Broadcasting Press Guild (twice), NAACP Image Award, Environmental Media Award, Ace Award –Best Comedy Series on US cable, and a Special award from the Campaign For Freedom of Information. Lynn received an MA in Law from Cambridge University and now lives in New York, describing himself as a recovering lawyer.

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Hawai‘i Literary Arts Council awards Maui poet, O‘ahu author the Elliot Cades Award

Brandy Nālani McDougal.

By Ryan Mitchel Collins

The Maui News

WAILUKU–Hawai’i Poet Laureate and Maui resident Brandy Nālani McDougal has been awarded the Elliot Cades Award for Literature, the most prestigious literary honor in Hawai’i.

McDougal was one of two recipients of the award, joining author Susan Scott of Oahu as the only two to receive the honor.

“Winning this award means the world to me because it is from our Hawai’i literary community–rich, diverse and talented community (in my eyes, the best) and I feel so happy and honored to be a part of it,” MCDougal told The Maui News in an interview Sunday. “So many of my poetry heroes have been Elliot Cades awardees.”

Brandy Nālani McDougall, from the ahupua’a of Aʻapueo in Kula, Maui, and current Poet Laureate of Hawai’i, is the author of ‘Aina Hānau: Birth Land (University of Arizona Press, 2023) and The Salt-Wind: Ka Makani Pa’akai, (Kuleana ‘Oiwi Press, 2008). Her poetic work navigates through mo’olelo (history/story), moʻokū’auhau (geneaology), and ʻāina, reflecting on what it means to be a Kanaka ʻŌiwi daughter, woman, and mother amidst ongoing American colonialism, but also most importantly, ongoing aloha ‘āina.

“Being Hawai’i Poet Laureate has given me the opportunity to work with so many amazing poets and storytellers and artists–some just starting out and others who have always been writing and telling stories,” McDougall said. “I’m so grateful that this has helped me to expand and enrich my own poetic range and aesthetic, but beyond that, I hope this recognition through the Elliot Cades award also shines the light on how healing, community-fostering, and ‘āina-connecting poetry writing can be.

Poetry has been a calling and a kuleana for me because it saved my life and continues to heal me in so many ways. In line with that, I will continue to share that message in poetry workshops and events (please follow the Hawai’i Humanities Council for info on our events) and encourage everyone to write their own poems and at stories. Later this year, Puka Kinikini, an online local poetry archive will be launched, too, which will help the amazing Hawai’i poetry that’s out there be more visible, accessible and widely taught in our schools as the next generation of poets is raised. This is one of my signature projects as poet laureate. I also have the privilege of being one of the 2025 Hawai’i Triennial artists, so I am currently working on a series of poems “Aloha Kaʻapuni” that meditates on circulations of aloha during journeys around the world and our islands.”

An associate professor of American Studies (specializing in Indigenous Studies) at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, McDougall is also the author of Finding Meaning: Kaona and Contemporary Hawaiian Literature, part of the Critical Issues in Indigenous Studies series published by University of Arizona Press in 2016 and winner of the Native American Literature Symposium’s Beatrice Medicine Award for Published Monograph in 2017. A Ford and Mellon-Hawai’i fellow, McDougall is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools, Whittier College, University of Oregon’s Creative Writing MFA Program, and UH Mānoa’s English department (Ph.D). She lives with her keiki in Kalaepōhaku, Honolulu, in the ahupua’a of Waikīkī on O’ahu.

Susan Scott wrote a weekly column called OceanWatch for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and later the Star-Advertiser from 1987 to 2020, and is the author, and co-author, of nine books about nature in Hawai’i, as well as her memoir, Call Me Captain, A Memoir of a Woman at Sea (2014, University of Hawai’i Press.) Two recent books are about kōlea (Pacific Golden Plovers) and manu-o-Kū (White Terns), University of Hawai’i Press. In 2020, Susan helped revise the 7th edition of the Hawaii Audubon Society’s book, Hawai’i’s Birds. Susan’s interest in Hawai’i’s birds resulted in the Hawai’i Audubon Society’s Board of Directors electing her president of the Society in January 2022. A former registered nurse, Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the UH Mānoa and is a graduate of the university’s Marine Option Program, where she studied marine journalism. As a volunteer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Susan has counted albatrosses at Pihemanu Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), tagged crabs on Palmyra Atoll, and rescued monk seals and sea turtles at Kānemiloha’i (French Frigate Shoals.) Scott’s newspaper column was discontinued during the pandemic, but through her work

with the Audubon Society, she continues sharing her enthusiasm for Hawai’i’s remarkable plants and animals.

The Cades Awards, given annually since 1988, were created by Charlotte and J. Russell Cades in memory of his brother, Elliot, a teacher and lover of literature. The awards come with a substantial cash prize for the recipients.

The Hawai’i Literary Arts Council also announced that Joy Kobayashi-Cintron and Wing Tek Lum have been selected as this year’s of the Loretta D. Petrie Award for their many years of outstanding service to Hawai’i’s literary community.

Joy Kobayashi-Cintron is the managing editor of Bamboo Ridge Press and has been involved in editing, organizing, and publishing nearly 60 issues of Hawai’i’s premier literary anthology since 1995. She has participated in virtually every step of the publication process, even assisting with sales and deliveries of books and, with the help of her husband Xander Cintron-Chai, in the many details involved in readings and other activities designed to promote Bamboo Ridge publications and the more than 1,000 writers and artists whose work has appeared in them in the past four and a half decades. Numerous senior Bamboo Ridge leaders have joined in affirming her indispensable role in producing each issue.

Wing Tek Lum, an award-winning poet, is also the long-time business manager of Bamboo Ridge and the person credited with the financial survival over much of its 45-year history of Hawai’i’s most enduring literary publication. He accepted the fiscal role in the 1980s and has shared his family business site for board meetings in its conference room and storage of materials in the basement. He also pitches in as a volunteer at readings and other events, helps out with book sales, furniture set-up and breakdown; makes deliveries, and chases down evaluation forms. He is a past Cades Award recipient and winner of the 1988 American Book Award and author of the soon-to-be-released The Oldtimers.

Petrie Award honorees each receive an engraved plaque and a check for $250. The awards, now in their eighth year, were inspired by a bequest from Loretta D. Petrie (1928-2014), an early leader of HLAC, a teacher and administrator at Chaminade, where she took an active role in its literary magazine and sustained her own lifelong interest in writing.

The Hawai’i Literary Arts Council was founded in 1974 to encourage and promote literature and literary activity of all sorts in Hawai’i.

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The quantum, eternal force of Audre Lorde

A thoughtful, probing biography places the poet in the communities she built.

“Neither of us has forever,” Alexis Pauline Gumbs quotes Audre Lorde in her expansive biography of the prolific, Harlem-born poet and essayist.

Lorde wrote this in a letter to Pat Parker, one of many missives she sent the Oakland-based poet and activist in an attempt to collapse the distance between two coasts with words of love and support. However, as Gumbs illustrates in “ Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde ”, poets, writers, and artists of all stripes are capable of living beyond their years. As she writes of Lorde and Parker: “[T]hey both believed that their work, to the extent that they could do it, would have a lifesaving impact on the world long after they were gone.”

Lorde died of liver cancer in November 1992 at the age of 58 — about three years after Parker, who succumbed to cancer in June 1989 at the age of 45.

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The two had become fast friends when Lorde traveled from New York City in 1969 to visit the West Coast for the first time. Gumbs describes them as “kindred survivors,” having a shared experience of being both Black and lesbian while navigating a literary scape that reliably elevated straight white men — not to mention the wider world ravaged by the very racism, sexism, and homophobia against which the two had unsheathed their pens to fight.

“When I first heard that Audre had cancer,” Gumbs quotes Parker’s statements at a public event, “I was very angry, and I cursed the gods and the goddesses and everyone and everything that I could think of.” After Lorde, Parker too was diagnosed with cancer. “Pat Parker thought maybe her unprocessed anger was the reason she had cancer,” Gumbs writes, “but when she thought about how cruel it was the stress of living as a multiply oppressed person could be the reason she had a terminal illness, she just felt more rage.”

It is now a mainstream notion that the physical body keeps the score of stress, trauma, and overall emotional distress inflicted on a person. The indication of this phenomenon, however, predates its place in pop psychology. Such distress is a suspected contributor to the untimely demise of so many other Black female writers and scholars whose lives were cut short by illness, like poet June Jordan who died of cancer in 2002, or pioneering professor of African American literature Barbara Christian, who died of the same two years prior in 2000. That said, in “Survival,” Gumbs offers another possible source of Lorde’s own disease: carbon tetrachloride.

Lorde encountered this manufactured chemical, can damage the liver and kidneys, while working at the Keystone Electronics factory in Connecticut, one of the low-wage jobs she had taken to pay her way through Hunter College and then Columbia’s School of Library Service. She had been a worker on an assembly line, sorting crystals that mechanically moved down a conveyor belt. “To make the process quicker,” Gumbs writes, “Audre left the protective shield of the X-ray machine up and exposed herself to radiation.” She would also hide some of the crystals washed in carbon tetrachloride in her mouth to reduce the pile to be sorted, spitting them out in the bathroom later.

As Gumbs explains, Lorde did not have time for the drudgery of the factory, which ended up firing her in any case. Lorde had a lot of living to do. “She was working to get back to school as soon as possible,” Gumbs writes, “and to fund her trip to study in Mexico.” Notwithstanding the eight years it ultimately took Lorde to obtain her undergraduate degree at Hunter, or her eventual early death, Lorde not only published several poetry collections and books of prose — including “ Sister Outsider ” and the “ Zami: A New Spelling of My Name ” — but also cultivated a multi-generational and international community of comrades and “sisters,” with whom she laughed, cried, and strove to create places of belonging amid otherwise hostile environments.

While Gumbs gives homage to prior biographical works on Lorde, the strength of “Survival” is in its carefully rendered portraits of Lorde’s intimate relationships, both romantic and platonic. Gumbs clearly relates how Lorde’s commitment to world-building was not simply an abstract concern left to the domain of literature, but was realized in real-life communion with her chosen family.

We learn of Lorde’s adolescent friendship with Genevieve, her “Black girlfriend who was an artist and a rebel,” a respite from the white girls at Hunter College High School who were not allowed to invite Lorde to their homes. We note Lorde’s longtime friendship with poet Diane di Prima, a high school friend she attended seances with to summon Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. We read of Lorde’s helping to found Kitchen Table Press: Women of Color Press, later solely run by feminist writer Barbara Smith. We learn of Lorde’s falling out with June Jordan in 1982, amid Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, when Lorde sided with poet Adrienne Rich in a public dispute arising out of Jordan’s solidarity with the Palestinians. We observe Lorde teaching in Berlin and advising a group of Afro-German feminists with whom she came to form close friendships.. We gain textured portrayals of Lorde’s romantic relationship with Frances Clayton, a psychologist she met during her stint at Tougaloo College, a historically Black institution in Mississippi, and later on with Gloria Joseph, a writer and scholar with whom Lorde would live in St. Croix until her death.

Early on in “Survival,” Gumbs warns that “this is not a normative biography linearly dragging you from a cradle to a grave.” Gumbs writes that she portrays Lorde as she has always envisioned her, which is as “quantum.” Indeed, in its presentation of Lorde’s full life, moves back and forth in chronology depending on the themes explored in each chapter. In every phase, we see Lorde herself as an energetic force that exists beyond the boundary of her body, and, certainly, the span of her life.

Lorde died over three decades ago, but Gumbs makes it clear that, from a quantum perspective, she remains one with her loved ones and devoted readers. “Take this energy, that wonderful surge,” Gumbs quotes Lorde instructing an audience at an event held to celebrate her life not long before she died. “Remember that what you’re feeling doesn’t belong to me. [. . .] It’s you. It’s yours. You are making it. You are generating it, and you’re going to carry it out of this room. And you can do whatever you want with it.”

Hawa Allan writes cultural criticism, fiction, and poetry. She is the author of “ Insurrection: Rebellion, Civil Rights, and the Paradoxical State of Black Citizenship .”

SURVIVAL IS A PROMISE: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde

By Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 528 pages, $35

Bend-based poet and author Ellen Waterston is Oregon’s new Poet Laureate

• Updated: Aug. 16, 2024, 1:32 p.m.
• | Published: Aug. 15, 2024, 12:07 p.m.

Ellen Waterston, of Bend, has been named the new Oregon Poet Laureate. Marina Koslow Davis

• Kristi Turnquist | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Ellen Waterston, a poet, writer, teacher and speaker based in Bend, is Oregon’s eleventh Poet Laureate, succeeding Anis Mojgani, who has been the state Poet Laureate since 2020.

In an announcement, Governor Tina Kotek, who named Waterston to the two-year appointment, said, in part, “Ellen Waterston stands out for her commitment to community engagement, her focus on bringing different ways of living and different parts of the state together, and her notable ability to describe the moments, places and people that make Oregon, Oregon.”

Waterston’s work is, according to the announcement, inspired by “the remote reaches of southeastern Oregon’s Outback.” In addition to her poems being published in anthologies and journals, Waterston’s books of poetry and prose include “Walking the High Desert: Encounters With Rural America Along the Oregon Desert Trail”; “Hotel Domilocos”; “Vía Lactéa”; “Where the Crooked River Rises”; “Between Desert Seasons”; and “Then There Was No Mountain.”

Waterston has been honored with the WILLA Award for two of her poetry collections, and the Obsidian Prize for Poetry. She is currently working on a collection featuring a series of commissioned poems which, according to the release, celebrate remote locations across the West.

“Inspired by the example of the Poets Laureate who have preceded me, I am eager to share my love of poetry, place and the power of the written word with Oregon’s diverse audiences, and to kindling creativity and community as I go,” Waterston said in the announcement.

In addition to her writing, Waterston also founded the Writing Ranch, which offers retreats and workshops for writers; was a founder of The Nature of Words, a nonprofit whose programs include an annual literary festival in Bend, and writing workshops; founded the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, which provides financial support for writers whose work reflects a connection to the desert, and which is a program of The High Desert Museum.

Waterston has also been awarded an honorary Ph.D. by Oregon State University-Cascades, and serves on the faculty of OSU Cascades MFA Low Residency program. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, and a Master of Arts in Archaeology from the University of Madagascar.

The Oregon Poet Laureate position is intended to, as the announcement said, foster the art of poetry, encourage literacy and learning, address central issues relating to humanities and heritage, and reflect on public life in Oregon. As part of her duties, Waterston, who assumes the role of Poet Laureate immediately, will provide at least 10 public readings per year across the state.

The Oregon Poet Laureate program is funded by the Oregon Cultural Trust, and administered by Oregon Humanities. The person assuming the position is selected by a 20-person committee of writers, poets and cultural leaders, who review nominations. Top candidates are then submitted to the Governor for consideration.

According to the Oregon Cultural Trust website, “The Poet Laureate will receive an honorarium of $15,000 per year during the term of service. Each term is two years. In addition, the planned activities and travel for the Poet Laureate will be supported through an annual travel subsidy of up to $10,000. The Poet Laureate will participate in a minimum of ten public readings/events in urban and rural settings across the state. These funds are managed and administered by Oregon Humanities.”

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— Kristi Turnquist covers features and entertainment. Reach her at 503-221-8227, [email protected] or @Kristiturnquist

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Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer and critic famous for his dark, mysterious poems and stories, including “The Raven,” “Annabel Lee,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Who Was Edgar Allan Poe?

Quick facts, army and west point, writing career as a critic and poet, poems: “the raven” and “annabel lee”, short stories, legacy and museum.

FULL NAME: Edgar Allan Poe BORN: January 19, 1809 DIED: October 7, 1849 BIRTHPLACE: Boston, Massachusetts SPOUSE: Virginia Clemm Poe (1836-1847) ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Edgar Allan Poe was born Edgar Poe on January 19, 1809, in Boston. Edgar never really knew his biological parents: Elizabeth Arnold Poe, a British actor, and David Poe Jr., an actor who was born in Baltimore. His father left the family early in Edgar’s life, and his mother died from tuberculosis when he was only 2.

Separated from his brother, William, and sister, Rosalie, Poe went to live with his foster parents, John and Frances Allan, in Richmond, Virginia. John was a successful tobacco merchant there. Edgar and Frances seemed to form a bond, but he had a more difficult relationship with John.

By age 13, Poe was a prolific poet, but his literary talents were discouraged by his headmaster and by John, who preferred that young Edgar follow him in the family business. Preferring poetry over profits, Poe reportedly wrote poems on the back of some of Allan’s business papers.

Money was also an issue between Poe and John. Poe went to the University of Virginia in 1826, where he excelled in his classes. However, he didn’t receive enough money from John to cover all of his costs. Poe turned to gambling to cover the difference but ended up in debt.

He returned home only to face another personal setback—his neighbor and fiancée Sarah Elmira Royster had become engaged to someone else. Heartbroken and frustrated, Poe moved to Boston.

In 1827, around the time he published his first book, Poe joined the U.S. Army. Two years later, he learned that his mother, Frances, was dying of tuberculosis, but by the time he returned to Richmond, she had already died.

While in Virginia, Poe and his father briefly made peace with each other, and John helped Poe get an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Poe excelled at his studies at West Point, but he was kicked out after a year for his poor handling of his duties.

During his time at West Point, Poe had fought with John, who had remarried without telling him. Some have speculated that Poe intentionally sought to be expelled to spite his father, who eventually cut ties with Poe.

After leaving West Point, Poe published his third book and focused on writing full-time. He traveled around in search of opportunity, living in New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Richmond. In 1834, John Allan died, leaving Poe out of his will, but providing for an illegitimate child Allan had never met.

Poe, who continued to struggle living in poverty, got a break when one of his short stories won a contest in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter . He began to publish more short stories and, in 1835, landed an editorial position with the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. Poe developed a reputation as a cut-throat critic, writing vicious reviews of his contemporaries. His scathing critiques earned him the nickname the “Tomahawk Man.”

His tenure at the magazine proved short, however. Poe’s aggressive reviewing style and sometimes combative personality strained his relationship with the publication, and he left the magazine in 1837. His problems with alcohol also played a role in his departure, according to some reports.

Poe went on to brief stints at Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine , Graham’s Magazine , as well as The Broadway Journal , and he also sold his work to Alexander’s Weekly Messenger , among other journals.

In 1844, Poe moved to New York City. There, he published a news story in The New York Sun about a balloon trip across the Atlantic Ocean that he later revealed to be a hoax. His stunt grabbed attention, but it was his publication of “The Raven,” in 1845, that made Poe a literary sensation.

That same year, Poe found himself under attack for his stinging criticisms of fellow poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . Poe claimed that Longfellow, a widely popular literary figure, was a plagiarist, which resulted in a backlash against Poe.

Despite his success and popularity as a writer, Poe continued to struggle financially, and he advocated for higher wages for writers and an international copyright law.

Poe self-published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems , in 1827. His second poetry collection, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems , was published in 1829.

As a critic at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond from 1835 to 1837, Poe published some of his own works in the magazine, including two parts of his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym . Later on came poems such as “Ulalume” and “The Bells.”

“The Raven”

Poe’s poem “The Raven,” published in 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror , is considered among the best-known poems in American literature and one of the best of Poe’s career. An unknown narrator laments the demise of his great love Lenore and is visited by a raven, who insistently repeats one word: “Nevermore.” In the work, which consists of 18 six-line stanzas, Poe explored some of his common themes: death and loss.

“Annabel Lee”

This lyric poem again explores Poe’s themes of death and loss and might have been written in memory of his beloved wife, Virginia, who died two years prior its publication. The poem was published on October 9, 1849, two days after Poe’s death, in the New York Tribune .

In late 1830s, Poe published Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque , a collection of short stories. It contained several of his most spine-tingling tales, including “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “Ligeia,” and “William Wilson.”

In 1841, Poe launched the new genre of detective fiction with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” His literary innovations earned him the nickname “Father of the Detective Story.” A writer on the rise, he won a literary prize in 1843 for “The Gold Bug,” a suspenseful tale of secret codes and hunting treasure.

“The Black Cat”

Poe’s short story “The Black Cat” was published in 1843 in The Saturday Evening Post . In it, the narrator, a one-time animal lover, becomes an alcoholic who begins abusing his wife and black cat. By the macabre story’s end, the narrator observes his own descent into madness as he kills his wife, a crime his black cat reports to the police. The story was later included in the 1845 short story collection, Tales by Edgar Allan Poe .

Later in his career, Poe continued to work in different forms, examining his own methodology and writing in general in several essays, including “The Philosophy of Composition,” “The Poetic Principle,” and “The Rationale of Verse.” He also produced the thrilling tale, “The Cask of Amontillado.”

From 1831 to 1835, Poe lived in Baltimore, where his father was born, with his aunt Maria Clemm and her daughter Virginia. He began to devote his attention to Virginia; his cousin became his literary inspiration as well as his love interest. The couple married in 1836 when she was only 13 years old and he was 27.

In 1847, at the age of 24—the same age when Poe’s mother and brother also died—Virginia passed away from tuberculosis. Poe was overcome by grief following her death, and although he continued to work, he suffered from poor health and struggled financially until his death in 1849.

Poe died on October 7, 1849, in Baltimore at age 40.

His final days remain somewhat of a mystery. Poe left Richmond on ten days earlier, on September 27, and was supposedly on his way to Philadelphia. On October 3, he was found in Baltimore in great distress. Poe was taken to Washington College Hospital, where he died four days later. His last words were “Lord, help my poor soul.”

At the time, it was said that Poe died of “congestion of the brain.” But his actual cause of death has been the subject of endless speculation. Some experts believe that alcoholism led to his demise while others offer up alternative theories. Rabies, epilepsy, and carbon monoxide poisoning are just some of the conditions thought to have led to the great writer’s death.

Shortly after his passing, Poe’s reputation was badly damaged by his literary adversary Rufus Griswold. Griswold, who had been sharply criticized by Poe, took his revenge in his obituary of Poe, portraying the gifted yet troubled writer as a mentally deranged drunkard and womanizer. He also penned the first biography of Poe, which helped cement some of these misconceptions in the public’s minds.

Although Poe never had financial success in his lifetime, he has become one of America’s most enduring writers. His works are as compelling today as they were more than a century ago. An innovative and imaginative thinker, Poe crafted stories and poems that still shock, surprise, and move modern readers. His dark work influenced writers including Charles Baudelaire , Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Stephane Mallarme.

The Baltimore home where Poe stayed from 1831 to 1835 with his aunt Maria Clemm and her daughter, Poe’s cousin and future wife Virginia, is now a museum. The Edgar Allan Poe House offers a self-guided tour featuring exhibits on Poe’s foster parents, his life and death in Baltimore, and the poems and short stories he wrote while living there, as well as memorabilia including his chair and desk.

• The death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world.
• Lord, help my poor soul.
• Sound loves to revel near a summer night.
• But as, in ethics, evil is a consequence of good, so, in fact, out of joy is sorrow born. Either the memory of past bliss is the anguish of to-day, or the agonies which are have their origin in the ecstasies which might have been.
• They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.
• The boundaries which divide life from death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?
• With me poetry has been not a purpose, but a passion; and the passions should be held in reverence; they must not—they cannot at will be excited, with an eye to the paltry compensations, or the more paltry commendations, of mankind.
• And now—have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses?—now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart.
• All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
• I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active—not more happy—nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
• [I]f you wish to forget anything upon the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.
• Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.

Watch “The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe” on HISTORY Vault

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