L.L. Barkat, Founder, Tweetspeak Poetry, T. S. Poetry Press, Every Day Poems, and Poetic Earth Month
I’m a former English and elementary educator, K-12 certified, who believes in the heart of a teacher and the soul of a student. With expertise in literacy development and a strong interest in early childhood math education, I’m currently giving my own heart and soul to bringing beauty and joy to the education process through the many free materials offered here at Tweetspeak, as well as through a growing collection of inspiring (and often fun) books for life-long learners. You can also find my writing at The Huffington Post, Edutopia, and Jane Friedman. Or hear a little of my poetry on the BBC or my poetry and philosophy on the radio (here, too) or the Basecamp Rework Podcast. For all the news, etc., visit llbarkat.com
• • •
Will (LW) Willingham, Director of Many Things, Tweetspeak Poetry and T. S. Poetry Press; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator, Tweetspeak Poetry
I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My debut novel, Adjustments, was published in 2019.
Read articles by Will Willingham
• • •
Note to Publishers and Poets: If you would like to have your poetry considered for feature in Every Day Poems or review here at Tweetspeak Poetry, please contact editor[at]tweetspeakpoetry[dot]com about where to send review copies for our perusal.
• • •
Sara Barkat, Editor, T.S. Poetry Press; Copy Editor, Video and Sound Editor, Tweetspeak Poetry; Writer, Poetic Earth Month
I like my tea black (with a special love for Indian chai) and my novels long (give me sci-fi, fantasy, or 19th century to make me especially happy!)—though I’m always exploring beyond my known universe and will drink greens, reds, and oolongs, and read almost any genre or style that crosses my table. Speaking of the universe, I have a passion for learning about anything from black holes to the mysteries of time. When I’m not sitting by the window, sharing the sun with our little lemon tree, I can be found making lemon cupcakes and other confections, creating art (pen and ink, intaglio, and Prismacolors, please) or moving through the world on the toes of ballet or jazz dance. Check out more of my ongoing creative work at sarabarkat.com
• • •
Laura Lynn Brown, Contributing Writer and Proofreader, Tweetspeak Poetry
My first essay submission was probably an unassigned report on aardvarks, given to my second grade teacher (I did the research on the animal, but what most amazed me was that a word could begin with aa). My first poem was probably “Song to a Bowl of Cornflakes” in sixth grade. I love walking, the color orange, green tea, washing dishes in the homes of friends, asking good questions, and counting gratefuls, among other things. After 25 years away, I’m at home again in the moveable feast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’ve published one book so far, Everything That Makes You Mom. You can find my writing at Notes From an Urban Cabin and lauralynnbrown.com. Follow me on Twitter @lauralynn_brown and on Instagram @notes_from_an_urban_cabin.
Read articles by Laura Lynn Brown
• • •
Sarah Elwell, Contributing Photographer, Every Day Poems
I am a writer from beside an old stony sea, at the edge of the known world. I am, as are we all, light against earth – everything else is just the layering of story.
• • •
Callie Feyen, Teaching & Learning Editor and Children’s Editor, Tweetspeak Poetry
I like Converse tennis shoes and colorful high heels, reading the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and the Twilight series. My favorite outfit has always been a well-worn pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, but I want hoop skirts with loads of tulle to come back into style. My favorite line from literature comes from Sharon Creech’s Absolutely Normal Chaos: “I don’t know who I am yet. I’m still waiting to find out.” I’m a writer and the At-Risk Literacy Specialist in the Ypsilanti Public Schools, working on my first book series. You can find me at Coffee + Crumbs and CallieFeyen.com.
• • •
Claire Haidar, Contributing Photographer, Tweetspeak Poetry
I have been described as part chaos, part rocket fuel. I delight in the unknown and treat life like a playground. I’m fascinated by creativity, science and strangers. Good writing and heart photography are my soul passions. As for you… let’s get to know each other shall we? @clairehaidar
• • •
Pearl Jenkins, Advice Columnist, Dennison Gazette
I’m two parts Katharine Hepburn and one part Helen Mirren. Some say I have a dash of Gilda Radner for good measure, but I haven’t the slightest idea who that is. I make coffee the old fashioned way, bake an apple pie unequaled in the history of pastries, and am the most sought after confidant and matchmaker in the small (fictional) Dakota town of Dennison. You can learn more about me in my advice column, Ask Pearl, or read the book about me.
• • •
Sonia Joie, Video Creator, T.S. Poetry Press
I love ribbons, sweaters, coining words, making people laugh, and the sound of sizzling onions. I’m also a food lover, fiction writer, and occasional web designer. You can find me at my photography site, The 30 Day Food Blog, or Iridescent Industries.
• • •
Claire Yasmin Khokhar, Curator Arts & Experience Libraries, Tweetspeak Poetry
I’m a lover of the world, its people, and their habits. I have a special interest in the archaeology and literature concerning ancient Mediterranean daily life and have a master’s from Brandeis University where I studied the ancient Greek and Roman world and wrote my thesis on the brothel of Pompeii (scandalous, I know!). I’m also a self-proclaimed world traveler (Istanbul and Florence are dear to my heart). In my free time, I love to write lyrics and focus on my music.
• • •
Sandra Heska King, Contributing Writer and Social Media Team Manager, Tweetspeak Poetry
I’m a Michigan girl who left a 150-year-old family farmhouse on 60 acres to build a hummingbird-sized empty nest in Florida, right next to the Everglades. I thrive on a good dare and believe there’s no age-barrier to adventure—whether it’s kayaking with alligators, biking too close to a rattlesnake, riding a rollercoaster, or committing long poems near sleepy iguanas. I take lever harp lessons; buy more books than I own shelves to put them on; drink tea, tea, and more tea; and eat M&M’s the proper way (one sweet circle at a time). I’m also thinking to paint my front door chartreuse (don’t tell the HOA). Find me at my blog or on Twitter
Read articles by Sandra Heska King
• • •
Richard Maxson, Editor, Every Day Poems
I’ve had the pleasure of living in many places coast to coast and even Spain for a while. Of all the places I could live now, I am where I feel most at home in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I have always had a love affair with mountains, second only to my wife. I am a poet and the Poetry Editor for Every Day Poems for T.S. Poetry Press. After ten years with Hewlett-Packard as a Technical Writer and Business Analyst, I will be retiring in 2017. You can find me on Twitter, @theimaginedjay
Read articles by Richard Maxson
• • •
Bethany Rohde, Community Care and Social Media Associate, Contributing Writer, Tweetspeak Poetry
Read articles by Bethany Rohde
• • •
Tania Runyan, Contributing Writer, Tweetspeak Poetry
I live in Lindenhurst, Illinois, a sort-of suburb, sort-of small town, where the deer and the minivans play. I’m a 2011 NEA fellow and mama to four poetry books—Second Sky, A Thousand Vessels, Simple Weight, and Delicious Air—and three (much cuter and noisier) human children. I’m also the author of How to Read a Poem, How to Write a Poem, and How to Write a College Application Essay. When not writing or spending time with the family, I tutor high school students, play Celtic fiddle and mandolin, and get gloriously muddy in the garden. Visit me at TaniaRunyan.com
• • •
Kelly Sauer, Contributing Photographer, Tweetspeak Poetry and Every Day Poems
I’m a work-at-home-mom who launched a wedding photography business in 2010. A poet-photographer and incurable restless heart, I make fine art out of real life as I focus on authentic relationships and transparent branding. @kellysauer
• • •
Megan Willome, Editor, Tweetspeak Poetry
I have two threads I follow, a la William Stafford’s The Way It Is: poetry and tea. My book is The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life With Poems, and I love to introduce poetry to people who think poetry is for other people. I enjoy walking my dogs before dawn, riding my bicycle down one-lane roads in the Texas Hill Country, and attending as many theater performances as possible. I’ve been a contributing writer at the WACOAN magazine since 2005 (where I’ve also served as managing editor), and I write for the wine magazine of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. I blog at meganwillome.com. You can find me on Twitter @meganwillome and Facebook.
Read articles by Megan Willome
• • •
Glynn Young, Editor and Twitter-Party-Cool-Poem-Weaver, Tweetspeak Poetry
I live in St. Louis where I recently retired as the team leader for Online Strategy & Communications for a Fortune 500 company. I write poetry, short stories and fiction, and I love to bike. You can find me at my blog Faith, Fiction, Friends or follow me on Twitter @gyoung9751
• • •
We also need to thank Eric Swalberg and Jim Wood for being so fun and bantering on Twitter. That led to our very first Twitter poetry party, which led to this site, which led to an award-winning small press, which led to a Daily called Every Day Poems. And Rod Karmenzind, who graciously lent his art (the header) right from the beginning, not knowing it would someday go this far.
• • •
Guest Writers Who’ve Appeared at Tweetspeak
Vicki Addesso
As personal assistant to a toy inventor who is also the creator/director of a children’s environmental education program I may be shopping for supplies to build prototypes one minute, doing research or scheduling programs the next, and planting seedlings with girl scouts later that afternoon. In between my job, and life with my husband and sons, I work at writing. Co-author of the collaborative memoir Still Here Thinking of You~A Second Chance With Our Mothers (Big Table Publishing, 2013), I have been published in The Writer, Damselfly Press, and Stories From the Kids. You can follow me on Twitter @VickiAddesso and tumblr
• • •
Angela Alaimo O’Donnell
I teach English, Creative Writing, and Literature & Theology at Fordham University in New York City. I’m obsessed with certain things (including Moby Dick, Frank Sinatra, and The Saints). In addition to being a writer and teacher, I’m a mother to three delightful (and surprisingly well-adjusted) twenty-something sons. My most recent book of poems is Saint Sinatra, and I have an upcoming book on Flannery O’Connor’s theological imagination, The Province of Joy (Paraclete Press, 2012). You can visit me at angelaalaimoodonnell.com
• • •
Laura Boggess
I am happiest in a place with no walls. Give me a bed of grass and a blanket-sky and I will dream deep in wonder. But a good story takes me to this place too. And a poem? Even better. I share my loves on Instagram. Or you can find me on twitter @lauraboggess
• • •
Richard Berlin
I’m a physician, psychiatrist, medical school faculty member and poet with a full time practice in a small town in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts. Living in the Berkshires also allows me to garden, kayak, X country ski, and spend time on my mountain bike as well as the Tanglewood Lawn. I’ve published two chapbooks and two full-length poetry collections, most recently Secret Wounds, which won the 2010 John Ciardi Award in Poetry, and was selected by USA Book New Awards as the best general poetry book published in 2011. Feel free to visit me at RichardMBerlin.com
• • •
Wm. Anthony Connolly
Beneath floorboards and on board transit buses; in the cracks of doorways and behind portraits of priests; in the spines of books and magazines, rolled up pieces of paper… For years I have been a fugitive, keeping one step ahead of those who find my tiny scrolls. I stash the messages randomly and without hope of being found out. On each I leave a little bit of me. My purple-ink-stained hands daily mess journal pages, skitter across the wonky keys on my trusty Underwood and sometimes, when you look very carefully, you can see my mauve ghost prints on books like The Jenny Muck and The Obituaries. Today I am leaving messages in all the unexpected places. Visit me at my website or follow me on Twitter @WmAnthony
• • •
Charity Singleton Craig
I am a writer, bringing words to life through essays, stories, blog posts, and books. I have contributed essays to three books, including Letters to Me: Conversations with a Younger Self, and have been published at various venues, including The Curator, where I am a staff writer. You can find me online at charitysingletoncraig.com,
• • •
Deva Curnutte
I currently live in North Dallas where I write and spend lots of time playing with my three-year-old son. I love coffee and the hum of a flywheel during spin class. Once, on a whim, I signed up for and ran a half marathon. My favorite color is blue and my favorite book is Weetzie Bat, which I’ve read more times than I can count. You can find me at my blog, Everything in the Middle.
• • •
Todd Davis
I never dreamed I’d write poems when I was reading comic books and working at my dad’s animal hospital as a teenager. After discovering the poems of Maxine Kumin and Galway Kinnell in a college English class, I was sold on the idea. Now the author of four full-length collections, I’ve been honored to be featured by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac and Ted Kooser in American Life in Poetry. I also teach creative writing and environmental studies at Penn State University’s Altoona College. Feel free to visit my page
• • •
Michelle DeRusha
A Massachusetts native, I moved to Nebraska in 2001, where I discovered the Great Plains and grasshoppers the size of Cornish hens. I’m the author of Spiritual Misfit: A Memoir of Uneasy Faith and 50 Women Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Heroines of the Faith. I write MichelleDeRusha.com, as well as a monthly column for the Lincoln Journal Star. You can also connect with me on Twitter @MichelleDeRusha
• • •
Maureen Doallas
If you’ve ever had to edit government documents you know why I gave up my “Editor” shingle to write poetry in 140 characters. And while I’m officially retired and older than just about everybody else here, don’t call me retiring, especially while I’m reading Neruda’s Memoirs in public. When I can’t get “Jack” and “MacDuff” out for their walks, I like to spend my time breathing in art and Writing Without Paper and wondering how to sell my flock of peacocks and still-blooming garden of orchids at Transformational Threads. Follow me on Twitter @Doallas
• • •
Charlotte Donlon
I love golden ginkgo trees in the fall, steaming hot toddies in the winter, new signs of life in the spring, and reading under an umbrella on the beach in the summer. Regardless of the season, I find joy in quiet mornings to myself while the rest of my family is still asleep, in learning about new-to-me musicians, authors, and artists who do good work, and in experiencing “A-ha” moments during the creative process. I’m a reader, a writer, and a copywriter. Links to some of my essays can be found at charlottedonlon.com. I can also be found on Twitter and Instagram at @charlottedonlon.
• • •
John Estes
I’m Director of Creative Writing at Malone University, a small school in the Quaker tradition located in Canton, Ohio. If you live outside Northeast Ohio you most likely have never heard of the place (and if you know anything of Canton at all it’s probably something do with the NFL Hall of Fame). I’m also the author of Kingdom Come, as well as two chapbooks. You can find out more about my work and read my occasional blog at JohnEstes.org
• • •
Heather Eure
I’ve served as the Poetry Editor at the former Burnside Writers Collective and am a sometime-illustrator now pursuing life as an outlaw creative (evidence available upon request). I currently live in northeastern North Carolina with my husband David (affectionately known as Big Earl). Most days you can find me hanging out at the local coffee house requesting foam art in my macchiato, or scribbling poetry at The Consolation of Mirth
• • •
Donna Falcone
I live in Northeast PA with my witty and scientific husband, our two sons, both in college, and our large dog Gruffy who suffers under the delusion that he is a Pomeranian. My poetry has been featured in WordCandy, Poetry Nook vol 3, and When Women Waken issue 3. I love my chocolate dark, my coffee light, and my tea touched by stevia. Tweet me at @brightersideblg or find me at The Brighter Side
• • •
Kortney Garrison
I worked in Guadalajara one summer and studied in London one fall. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the jungles of Suriname. Now, I live with my family in the Pacific Northwest where I homeschool my three children. Our librarians know us by name! My poems have appeared in The Solitary Plover and The Phoenix Soul. Coffee in the morning and tea each afternoon—that’s how it all gets done! Connect with me at my blog One Deep Drawer or on Instagram.
• • •
Seth Haines
I first fell in love with words when I overheard the captain of the high school cheerleading team offer “effervescent” as a Mad Libs adjective. I was eight. My crush on the cheerleader was fleeting. My love for words was not. My working hours are spent rendering legal services to the good people of Fayetteville, Arkansas. From time to time, I can also be found casting a fly line in the Arkansas tail waters. Connect with me on twitter at @sethhaines
• • •
Dave Harrity
I’m a teacher living in Kentucky, with a book due out this fall—Making Manifest: Toward Sacred Collisions of Faith and Art. I’m also the author of the chapbook Morning and What Has Come Since, which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, a Kentucky Literary Award, and the Conference on Christianity and Literature’s Book-of-the-Year Citation in 2007. As the founder of Antler—a teaching and resource initiative—I invite you stop by and visit us or follow me on Twitter @DaveHarrity
• • •
Karen Paul Holmes
In my former life, I was VP-Communications at a global financial services corporation, and I now work as a freelance business writer and consultant helping clients create highly effective communications. My ghost-written articles have appeared in many industry publications under executive bylines. I have two poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Kelsay Books, 2014). Visit me at KarenPaulHolmes.com
• • •
Kimberlee Conway Ireton
I am the author of The Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year and the recently released memoir, Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis. A wannabe connoisseur of tea and an avid reader, I live in Seattle with my husband, four kids, two cats, and more books than I can count. Find me at imberleeconwayireton.net.
• • •
Joel Jacobson
I live in Colorado with my beautiful wife, two busy little boys, and Haiku the Wonder Lab. My days are rounded out with teaching high school English and creative writing, blogging about faith and art, and writing poetry. As if that’s not enough, I am an avid fan of baseball and football. You can follow me on Twitter @jejpoet
• • •
Julia Spicher Kasdorf
I’m an associate professor of English and women’s studies at the Pennsylvania State University and teach in the MFA program in creative writing. I have two collections of poetry with the University of Pittsburgh Press, and a third, Poetry in America, debuted this fall. My first collection was named one of Library Journal‘s Top 20 Best Poetry Books of 1998, and Sleeping Preacher won the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize and the Great Lakes College’s Association Award for New Writing. You can visit me at my website.
• • •
Laurie Klein
I inherited my mother’s passion for reading aloud. Despite mispronouncing “manure” in Mrs. Englebert’s 4th grade class—to hooting derision from classmates as I read Charlottes Web—I later pursued Theatre Arts at Whitworth University, in Spokane, Washington. “Can you teach me to play 100 characters?” I asked. They did. To this day, Professor Emeritus Pat Stien (now 93), continues to mentor me (soon-to-be 69). As with writing, one never masters the art. My performance credits stateside and abroad include plays, one-woman shows, storytelling events, poetry readings, audiobooks, videos, and spoken word recordings for albums and public radio.
• • •
Ann Kroeker
I dream of walking long stretches of shoreline, like Anne Morrow Lindbergh, collecting gifts from the sea. For now, I’m carving out a creative life in the landlocked American Midwest. On this suburban cul-de-sac, I rely on a steady intake of tea and books to set a quiet, reflective mood. A hammock helps. And a fireplace. I’ve written about slowing down in books like Not So Fast and The Contemplative Mom, and on my blog, annkroeker.com
• • •
Paula J Lambert
I was born and raised in a New England mill town and lived much of my life in the Deep South; I am, therefore, sensitive to the nuances of autumn and easily wooed by 12-bar blues. I now live in Columbus, Ohio, which just might be the poetry capital of the world. It took nearly forty-five years to find my tribe, but here we all are, in a city that has featured-poet and open-mic shows nearly every night of the week. I also do mixed-media collage art and co-host one of those poetry shows. Visit my website Full Crescent. Or follow me on Twitter @pjlambert_poet
• • •
Dolly Lee
After hiding in a cocoon as an artist, I am thankful to play with words in the second half of my life. Here are a few of my favorite things (cue Julie Andrews singing): the fresh scent of basil, watching the waves while walking along a beach, and laughing so hard I sound like a sea lion at Pier 39. I blog at Soul Stops and you can connect with me @SoulStops.
• • •
Marjorie Maddox
I grew up in a family that encouraged reading and writing. Where did I spend much of my time? Hanging upside down in a tree reading books. At the age of eight, my first poem was published in Campfire Girls Magazine. Seventeen books later, I still love reading and writing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and children’s literature. I have the great pleasure of talking about these favorite subjects at Lock Haven University, where I help direct the creative writing program. One of my most recent works—True, False, None of the Above— is an Illumination Book Award medalist. Living in Williamsport (home of the Little League World Series) and as the great grandniece of Branch Rickey (who helped break the color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson), I also breathe baseball. Visit me at marjoriemaddox.com.
• • •
Dave Malone
I’m living a thousand lives in one (so please don’t tell me differently)—a couple of those are poet, playwright, and fiction writer. I call the southern Missouri (Missourah down here) Ozarks home. The title for my e-newsletter, If I Had a Nickel, is rooted in a phrase from my Ozark grandfather. I write about romance, sensuality, and nature. You can find what I’m up to via my website or Twitter.
• • •
Dheepa Maturi
Once disconcerted by my evolving and overlapping identities as poet, writer, nonprofit director, lawyer, student of literature, and parent—and by the intersection of those identities with eastern culture and western life—I am (finally!) learning to play in the spaces between.
• • •
Kathryn Neel
Mad Scientist by day. Mad Poet by night. Environmental Surfer and Gadgeteer in between. I was nominated for the Pushcart by Naugatuck River Review, Winter 2010. I live near the quaint artist colony beach town of New Smyrna Beach, FL.
• • •
Kris Rasmussen
I am an educator, a playwright, and a proud Michigander (just remember, though, that I am a Spartan, not a Wolverine). When I am not grading papers or writing a monologue Shakespeare would envy, you might find me on stage at a Moth Story Slam near you. You can follow me on Twitter @krisras63 where you will find many pictures of my 18-pound Maine Coon, Teddy.
• • •
Darrelyn Saloom
Although I co-wrote a boxing memoir with former champion Deirdre Gogarty (My Call to the Ring: A Memoir of A Girl Who Yearns to Box), my pugilistic passion is confined to a keyboard. I’ve also been published at the Virginia Quarterly Review, and I spend most of my time on a farm south of I-10 in Louisiana with my husband, various critters, and thoroughbred racehorses. Feel free to drop by my website or visit me on Twitter
• • •
Monica Sharman
I once was an engineer, but while raising and home educating three sons, I became enamored with poetry, children’s literature, editing, drumming, and hula (though I still admit to the title of “nerd”). I grunt when I hit a tennis ball (my college teammates called me “Big Guns”), and my favorite stroke is the serve. I blog occasionally at monicasharman.wordpress.com and tweet, too @monicasharman
• • •
Karen Swallow Prior
I live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains where I love to run. When I’m not running or reading or writing, I get to talk about the books I love at Liberty University where I also happen to chair the department of English and Modern Languages. I write regularly for Her.meneutics, the women’s blog at Christianity Today. You can follow me on Twitter @KSPrior
• • •
Barbara
I live with my family in a tiny village in Galicia, in northwest Spain. I paint, teach and write. Follow me on Twitter at @chicaderock or stop by my website
• • •
Prasanta Verma
I was born under an Asian sun, raised in the Appalachian foothills, and now you can find me digging out of snow piles in the upper Midwest. I teach debate to high school students and tutor a number of other subjects. I never leave home without a pen and paper and I often carry a camera; beauty is everywhere and I don’t want to miss it. You can find me on Twitter @pathoftreasure.
• • •
David K. Wheeler
I’m the author of Contingency Plans: Poems and the independently produced album There There. Somebody thought it would be good to have my writing in The Pacific Northwest Reader, an essay collection from Harper/Delphinium, and so it is.
• • •
Jim Wood
I’m a full-time executive who likes to write about the joys and challenges of connecting business life with spiritual life.