Submit your best work by April 1! Some of us work best on a deadline, so here’s a friendly reminder: Submissions to the Driftless Writing Center 10th anniversary anthology are due by April 1. We’re seeking submissions of new, unpublished work rooted in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, or Illinois, including poetry,...

You must not say I saw the sunrise. In bed past the time of the rippling light, lying in piles of sheets, dreaming what was dearest, the charm of a word waking me with a grid that’s never as occupied as worry and hours. What if undone my mind is...

Metta Sáma, BEI Senior Fellow, did a two-part poetry mini-interview series! Click here for the original link. Part One Metta Sáma is author of Swing at your own risk(forthcoming Kelsey St. Press), the year we turned dragon (Portable Press @ Yo-Yo Labs), le animal & other creatures (Miel), After After/After “Sleeping to Dream” (Nous-zōt Press) and the web-book, Nocturne Trio (YesYes...

Linda Hogan, BEI Emeritus Fellow, newest essay, “Ancient Root” was recently published in Emergence Magazine. Click here for the original essay or read below! Ancient Root by Linda Hogan For Linda Hogan, hope lives where faith has fallen away. During an encounter with caged elephants, she experiences a wave of profound and startling love...

Check out the newest review of Liam Heneghan’s, BEI Scholar, book Beasts at Bedtime! Click here for the original post. Children’s literature as a natural wonder: How books introduce young readers to the environment By Stephanie Santillo There are two ways in which humans view the environment according to Dr. Liam Heneghan...

Audio Roundup: Black Poets Honoring Black Poets Posted Feb 19, 2019 In honor of Black History Month, Poets House invites you to spend some time listening to black poets who have spoken on the work and legacy of other black poets as part of our long-running Passwords program series. Here are...

Boys and Oil 1. We play army at Tyler’s birthday party. Cream the Carrier, Smear the Queer, King of the Hill—games boys on the prairie play to the swoosh of grass in afternoon heat. Something in the land pulls us towards violence. We tackle our friends, drive our hollow boned...

Recently, BEI Emeritus Fellow, Marcella Durand was featured in a blog post by Contemporary Poetry: A Site for All Things Poetry, Language, and Culture. Read the post below or go to the original page here. Marcella Durand I was reading the Durand handouts tonight, and I realized we don’t have...

OPEN HEART BY LAUREN CAMP His scar made him unlike the men who took me to begging, to bowling alleys on motorcycles, who threw off their boots to the corners. He had no last excuses. Our desert habitat juggled a thicket of cotton and spread flat or fluttered. We’d larked...

Mary Swander and her play Vang  (which BEI is bringing to Madison on April 19th, 2019) were recently featured in the Huff post! Read the article below or go to the original article here. Iowa Laureate’s “Vang” Play Showcases Immigrant Farmers: Interview with Mary Swander In a week of turmoil over...

Brenda Peterson, BEI Emeritus Fellow, recently aired a podcast on Mrs. Green’s World: Pets & Wildlife Podcasts entitled “Wolf Nation: The Life, Death, and Return of Wild American Wolves”. Listen Here! From childhood stories like Peter and the Wolf, to groundbreaking documentaries like Jamie and Jim Dutcher’s Living with Wolves, to the powerful...

by Liam Heneghan The traffic had been slow all day but by four pm, it was reduced to a trickle. Those cars that passed him on the street did so in two and threes as if they were sticking together for safety like lumbering animals caught out in a storm....

Linda Hogan recently had a Libretto featured in “Fire and Light” by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. Here are the interviews from this performance. For photos and videos of the event, click here. ‘Fire and Light’: OKC Philharmonic to perform work by local Chickasaw classical composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate believes his music...

Lauren Camp, BEI Senior Fellow, recently was on Studio Tulsa with Rich Fisher, listen here! Lauren Camp, whose books include “One Hundred Hungers” (winner of the Dorset Prize and a finalist for the Arab American Book Award) and “Turquoise Door.” Last year, Camp presented her poems on dementia at the...

Jacqueline Johnson, BEI Fellow, is one of the members of Quilters of Color NYC. Kindred Quilts, A Celebration of Stories in Cloth will run from Feburary 7 through April 5, 2019 at the Williamsburgh Library. Quilters of Color Network of New York was founded in 1987 and is located in the heart of...

Petra Kuppers, BEI Fellow, just received an additional grant from NCID (National Center for Institutional Diversity) for her project “Think Act Tank: Embodiment and Environmental Art Practice” of $15,000. “This Think Act Tank lies at the conjunctions of ecopoetics, disability studies, critical race studies, indigenous studies, and environmental studies. We...

D.J. Lee, BEI Scholar, recently wrote an essay on the Svalbard ice cores, a long-ago research trip to Oxford, with her companion artist Caroline Landau. The essay was published in both print and digital. Read the original essay here! “I love this one, it’s so clear and beautiful,” Caroline says, holding a football-sized...

Welsh Poetry Competition How many people know that the world-famous International Welsh Poetry Competition began life in a small, independent pub, tucked away down a quiet side street in Pontypridd?  Founded by Welsh poet Dave Lewis in 2007 the contest has been run and organized from the town ever since,...

Liam Heneghan, BEI Scholar, recently wrote his first fiction piece-published first on the Irish Times Website- read it below or here from the original. Memories of Irish Birdsong 1. My mother once saw the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs; in Irish: “Rí Rua”) take a shit on Grafton Street and she scolded...

Linda Hogan, BEI Emeritus Fellow, is one of the three composers of “Lowak Shoppala’, including Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and Margaret Roach Wheeler. Here is the original article by Tony Choate. The Oklahoma City Philharmonic will perform a work by Chickasaw classical composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, Feb. 16 at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music...

Melissa Tuckey, BEI Fellow and Co-Editor of About Place Journal’s Roots + Resistance, recently became the New Poet Laureate for Tomkins County. Read this new article about her and her agenda by Ithica.com After serving as the Tompkins County poet laureate, Zee Zahava’s time has come to an end. Her...

Poetry Flash, an online publication that reviews poetry, did a review on Senior Fellow Ann Fisher-Wirth’s book of poetry Mississippi. The review, written by Iris Jamahl Dunkle is below. Here is the link to the original article.  TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS WRITES in her breakthrough essay, “The Open Space of Democracy,” when we...

Sitwell’s Coffee House, once a staple location for Ludlow locals, shut its doors in January 2018. Not quite a year later, the shop reopened with new management and a new name. Sitwell’s Act II is back, and it looks better than ever. Annie Finch’s, BEI Fellow, poem Reverly is written over the...

Elizabeth Cunningham, BEI Emeritus Fellow, recently wrote a piece on feminism and religion. Read the original article here.  The poems below are excerpted from my new (I hope forthcoming) collection, Tell Me the Story Again.Ancient dreamer’s voice is one among many voices including sorrow singer, temple sweeper, sword woman, morose fool, merry...

Lauren Camp, BEI Senior Fellow, made Frontier Poetry’s: Exceptional Poetry From Around the Web: January 2019 list! Evidence of Tenderness by Lauren Camp in DIAGRAM Have you seen                 how a dried bud moves in invisible wind, or the pliant and clasping, a beginning of sunlight, the milk and honey of sand drifts,...

Ann-Fisher Wirth, Senior BEI Fellow, is one of the poets featured in the new book Fire and Raine: Ecopoetry of California. 19:48 Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California is an anthology of 250 poems about California’s ecosystems. Join correspondent Tom Wilmer for a chat with Los Osos-based poet Jackie Marcus. Her...

Lauren Camp, Senior BEI Fellow, recently had one of her poems, “Our Beginning and Our End,” (The first poem in her new book Turquoise Door), be featured in the newest issue of Crazyhorse Literary Journal. Her poem is nestled between wonderful work by Shane McCrae,Jessica Jacobs, Kai Carlson-Wee and others. Edited by Emily Rosko.

Regie Gibson, BEI Emeritus Fellow, recently performed at Cary Library’s: Library After Dark where he inspired the audience. This is a series is one of Cary Library’s many to cultural programs. For the original article. For 150 years, Cary Library has been enriching the lives of Lexington residents. The library...

Melissa Tuckey, BEI Emeritus Fellow and editor of APJ’s Roots + Resistance issue, has been selected as Poet Laureate of Tompkins County! She was nominated by Phebe Allen Gustafson. She will be kicking things off with a reading at the Tompkins County Legislature on January 15th at 5:30!

Lauren Camp has been busy lately! She recently had a poem published in Oxidant | Engine: Issue 7. Here is the poem- No Defense, No Readiness This season of lost resolve, of moon ovals lengthening toward tender land. The weather of sudden braking— all we know is a badly adorned...

Austin Smith, BEI Fellow, had his short story, “Curio”, published by On the Seawall. On the Seawall published poems, short stories, and other works by many authors. For the original article. And then there it was, what the boy had been looking for. He hadn’t known what it would be, only...

Lauren Camp, Senior BEI Fellow, newest book of poetry, Turquoise Door: Finding Mabel Dodge Luhan in New Mexico by Lauren Camp, was recently reviewed by World Literature Today. Lauren said the review beautifully asses what she was trying to do with the book. Poet Lauren Camp takes us for a deep dive into the...

Back in October, Patricia Spears-Jones, BEI Senior Fellow, had an article in Electronic Lit entitled “The Poetry of Black Women Shows Us How to Move Forward”. As we take the time to reflect on the past year, it is important to remember works that we are proud of. Recently, I learned...

Recently, The Boston Globe did an article featuring BEI Emeritus Fellow, Regie Gibson! They discuss Regie’s poetry, style, and making a living as being a poet. Check out the article below written by Cindy Atoji Keene. “I was born in the Delta where the heat is swelter. I am the blues.” — REGIE GIBSON...

Lauren Camp, BEI Senior Fellow, is one of the featured poets with work in the new book of poetry, Missing Persons: Reflections on Dementia. Beatlick Press is happy to announce the launch of their first book dealing with the diseases of dementia, Missing Persons. Included in this volume are poems...

Patricia Spears-Jones, Senior BEI Fellow, was featured in The New Yorker’s “Our Year in Poems”. For the list of the other poems. Here is her poem Seraphim Once a beauty, full figured, beloved And then a fever, sweats, water vomited Until the body gave out. And then, Wings and lyres...

Lauren Camp, BEI Senior Fellow, was asked by Tupelo Press to give some tips about winning the Dorset Prize and completing your manuscript. Lauren won in 2014. Spanish poet Antonio Machado wrote, “… there is no path, paths are made by walking.” In your manuscript, have you dared? Have you...

Austin Smith, BEI Fellow, was recently featured in a New York Times article, “In Recent Poetry Collections, Weapons Made of Words” by Stephanie Burt. The article talks about Austin’s new book of poetry Flyover Country. Copies of Flyover Country can be found here.  The quiet rural boys and men of...

Ann Fisher-Wirth, a BEI Senior Fellow, has recently joined the faculty of the Longleaf Writers Conference. She will be leading a poetry workshop along with Brian Turner. Below is information about the Longleaf Writers Conference. The Longleaf Writers Conference @Seaside, Florida (formerly Seaside Writers Conference), is pleased to announce our...

Lauren Camp, Senior BEI Fellow, has a new poem featured in the newest issue of Tar River Poetry edited by Luke Whisnant.  Here is Lauren’s Poem “Cow”http://www.tarriverpoetry.com/

Patricia Spears Jones, Senior BEI Fellow, opens the latest issue of the Ocean State Review with two of her original poems. Poem “On Roland Barthe’s Birthday” was inspired by a tweet Wayne Koestenbaum. This is the first time Patricia’s first time being the first work up in a journal.  

Liam Heneghan’s book, Beasts at Bedtime: Revealing the Environmental Wisdom in Children’s Literature is one of the books listed in Eco Lit Books list of “The best environmental books we’ve read in 2018”. Congrats Liam! Check out the other books that made it on the list here. For Copies of Beasts...

Metta Sáma, BEI Senior Fellow, is one of the many poets to contribute to the new collection of poetry: Big Energy Poets: Ecopoetry Thinks Climate Changes. Copies of the books can be found here. Contributors include: Stephen Collis, CAConrad, Matthew Cooperman & Aby Kaupang, Adam Dickinson, Suzi F. Garcia, Brenda Hillman, Brenda Iijima,...

Ann Fisher-Wirth, BEI Senior Fellow, Professor, and new author of The Bones of Winter Birds. Ann’s new collection of poetry is published by Terrapin Books, A Poetry Press. The Bones of Winter Birds is a book of belonging and of seeking, ribboned through with the copious steamy heat of the South and...

Dear Friends of Black Earth Institute, We need your support to continue. The Black Earth Institute supports artists and art much needed in our troubled times. Now in our fourteenth year, BEI was founded by my late wife, Patricia Monaghan, and me to have art serve the areas of spirit,...

The Black Earth Institute and the About Place Journal are nominating six pieces to The Pushcart Prize: The Best of Small Presses. Three pieces were nominated from the May 2018 issue of About Place Journal, Rewilding, by editor Tammy Gomez. The other three prices were nominated from the October 2018 issue,...

Poet and BEI Emeritus Fellow, Regie Gibson helped to pay tribute to poet Diana Der Hovanessian. For link to original article. ARLINGTON, Mass. — On the afternoon of November 4, the award-winning late poet Diana Der Hovanessian was feted at the Armenian Cultural Foundation (ACF) by an enthusiastic audience of...

Melissa Tuckey, BEI Emeritus Fellow and co-editor of About Place Journal, recently was featured talking about her book Ghost Fishing: Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology with co-author Camille Dungy. For the original link to the article. Copies of Ghost Fishing can be purchased here. Poets are scribbling and keyboarding away, asking justice...

Listen to Mary Swander, BEI Emeritus Fellow, as she talks about on the issue of farm succession as she visits with Kayte Young for Harvest Public Media in Main Street from Praire Public News. Click here for the link to listen.

Austin Smith’s new book of poetry, Flyover Country, was recently featured in The Washington Post. The article is featured below or for the link to the original. Five New Books Of Poetry Explore the American Experience, For Better or Worse Flyover Country “Flyover Country” (Princeton), by Austin Smith is a marvelous...

Kathleen Sweeney, BEI Emeritus Fellow, had an article published by the Garrison Institute. The article is about Digital Mindfulness. Below is the article, for the link to the original click here. Digital Mindfulness Slow Media in a Fast Media Landscape By Kathleen Sweeney Digital Culture, Digital Media What are we...

Liam Heneghan, BEI Scholar, recently had his work published on AEON. Check out his piece below or on the AEON Website. Liam is professor and chair of environmental science and studies at DePaul University in Chicago. He is a Scholar Advisor at the Black Earth Institute. His latest book, Beasts at...

Austin Smith has been receiving a lot of attention for his new book of poetry, Flyover Country. A new collection about violence and the rural Midwest from a poet whose first book was hailed as “memorable” (Stephen Burt, Yale Review) and “impressive” (Chicago Tribune).  Recently, The Michigan Daily wrote this article about...

Anne M Carson recently wrote a review of Mississippi, poetry by Ann Fisher-Worth (BEI Emeritus Fellow) and photographs by Maude Schuyler Clay. Below is the review, for a link to the original post. Forty-seven paired poems and photographs make up this beautifully realised work. Photographer Maude Schuyler Clay and Poet Ann...

Austin Smith, one of our newest fellows, was featured on NPR’s Here & Now segment November 1st. The interview focused on his newest book of poetry Flyover Country. Austin’s poems challenge misconceptions about the Midwest and what he calls the “carelessness” of drone warfare. Austin discusses Flyover Country with Here...

Ann Fisher-Worth, BEI Emeritus Fellow, faculty, and students gathered together at an event “Itimanupoli” to read poetry by Native American authors. “Itimanupoli” is the Choctaw word meaning “to converse”. The event was organized by Caroline Wigginton, associate professor of English and director of undergraduate studies for the department, as a way...

Recently Liam Heneghan, BEI Scholar, was reviewed in a reader’s blog. Liam loves the fact he is able to connect with readers. Below is the post written by sunnyjimmy about Beasts at Bedtime. “You will know what it is to have been wild, and you will know what it is to...

Recently, Patricia Spears Jones, BEI Emeritus Fellow, was featured in an article in Poets & Writers about “Black Feminist Poets and the death of Tony Hoagland”. “We need to think about power just a bit differently. What happens when we have that power — when our ideas, our programs, our voices are...

Liam Heneghan, one of BEI’s Senior Resident Advisors, recently had an article written about him for TechNews. Here is part of the article: “An ecosystem ecologist at DePaul University, as well as the co-director for DePaul University’s Institute for Nature and Culture, Liam Heneghan presented as a guest speaker at...

Lauren Camp released her fourth book Turquoise Door: Finding Mabel Dodge Luhan in New Mexico. With the release of this book, Lauren has a slew of events planned and recently did a reading at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House to kick them off. The Taos News wrote this article to...

Roberta Hill’s, poet and BEI Emeritus Fellow, poem “Philadelphia Flowers” is going to be discussed by a panel as well as drawing on their experiences. The panelists will discuss it at the “Cultural Sustainability and the Pursuit of Community” Event. In the cubbyhole entrance to Cornell and Son, a woman...

Every year, the Black Earth Institute invites current and emeritus fellows, and scholars to travel from all across the country to come here at Brigit Rest for a 3 day intensive. The 2018 Retreat was one of connection, inspiration, and testy Wisconsin weather. This was the first retreat for our...

Recently at Ryerson Woods, the Dear Earth Event attempted to gain interested in the natural world, especially from younger children. Guests were invited to learn about the natural world and what humans can do to preserve it. There were fun activities such as roasting marshmallows, painting pumpkins, and viewing all of...

Recently, Linda Hogan‘s book People of the Whale was featured in the New York Times in the Books for Left-Brained Readers section! Linda is a BEI Emeritus Fellow and highly published author. “Pieces of magic also surface in Linda Hogan’s evocative and largely realistic “People of the Whale.” The book follows...

Recently, Luther College in Iowa hosted its fifth biennial a writers festival. Debra Marquart, BEI Emeritus fellow and professor of English was one of the featured writers at the festival. Check here for the article written by Kelao Charmaine Neumbo. “The Writers Festival kicked off with a reading by one of this...

The Black Earth Institute is proud to announce the newest issue from About Place Journal: Roots + Resistance is officially available! BEI publishes the literary journal dedicated to re-forging the links between art and spirit, earth and society. The About Place Journal publishes twice a year and accepts open admissions for each...

Brenda Peterson, a BEI Emeritus Fellow, has recently released a new book- Wild Orca: The Oldest, Wisest Whale in the World. The book was written by Brenda and illustrated by Wendell Minor.  A picture book homage to Granny, the world’s oldest known orca, who lived to be 105 years old!  For...

Lauren Camp, one of Black Earth Institute’s Emeritus Fellows and four time published poet, has recently released her fourth collection of poetry: Turquoise Door: Finding Mabel Dodge Luhan in New Mexico. Recently, Entropy released a rave review of Lauren’s newest work. For copies of Turquoise Door .   “In June 2013, poet...

Richard Cambridge, one of BEI Emeritus Fellows, recently reviewed Extreme: An Anthology of Social and Environmental Justice. For a limited time, individuals can order Extreme for a promotional rate- only $15! Follow the link for details. Please continue reading for the complete review of Extreme by Richard Cambridge. HARD RAIN...

Austin Smith is one of BEI’s newest fellows and is also now a published poet. His collection of poetry, Flyover Country Poems is being released on September 25, 2018! The collection is about violence: The violence we do to the land, to animals, to refugees, to the people of distant...

Melissa Tuckey’s, Poet and BEI Emeritus Fellow, New York exhibit has been attracting pedestrians as they walk by LaGuardia Place and West 3rd Street. The Washington Square News, NYU’s independent student newspaper recently wrote a great review about the experience of seeing the poems, fishing net, and plants in the the...

Lauren Camp, a BEI Emeritus Fellow and poet, released a new novel entitled Turquoise Door: Finding Mabel Dodge Luhan in New Mexico. This is Camp’s fourth book of poetry to be published. Turquoise Door brings the contemporary realities of the Southwest into conversation with history. These collections introduces readers to...

BEI Emeritus Fellow Melissa Tuckey’s Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology will be displayed at the Kimmel Windows Gallery. It will be available for 24-Hour Viewing from September 10, 2018 – November 1, 2018. There will be an opening reception on September 10th from 5-7pm, which will feature readings and a...

  On August 24th, 2018 BEI Resident Scholar Advisor Liam Heneghan interviewed on WBEZ’s Worldview to discuss his book Beasts at Bedtime: Revealing the Environmental Wisdom in Children’s Literature. Liam Heneghan interviewed on WBEZ’s Worldview   Copies of the book are also available at: https://www.amazon.com/Beasts-Bedtime-Environmental-Children’s-Literature/dp/022643138X or http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo25153600.html

BEI Fellow Pam Uschuk, editor-in-chief of Cutthroat, is seeking submissions until October 1 for an anthology of contemporary Chicanx writing. Editors of the book include Luis Alberto Urrea, Uschuk, Matt Mendez, Beth Alvarado, and William Pitt Root. “Our goal is to celebrate the great body of poetry and prose written by...

A massive sculpture will soon appear on the Lake Michigan shoreline between Manitowoc and Two Rivers. Spirit of the Rivers, a tribute to the Woodland Indians of the Upper Great Lakes, consists of three 10-foot-high human figures and a 20-foot birch bark canoe in bronze. Created by sculptor R.T. “Skip” Wallen,...

We are seeking a part-time Administrative Intern to facilitate the work of BEI and its scholars and fellows.  The base of operations for this position is Brigit Rest (pictured), a home and farm located just west of Madison, WI. About the Position: – 20 hours / week; at least half...

BEI Emeritus Fellow Ann Fisher-Wirth recently published Mississippi, a collection of her poems with photos by Maude Schuyler Clay.  This review from Jacqueline Knirnschild at BURNAWAY describes the collaboration process between poet and photographer.  Knirnschild also addresses the book’s effect and its implications: “With such a divisive political climate, we need empathy...

Prayer  (by BEI Fellow Ann Fisher-Wirth; published in Vox Populi on June 19, 2018)   Let the mothers rush toward their babies and wrap their arms around them tight enough to hold back even the sea if it would harm them.   Let the anguish melt from the fathers’ eyes. This...

BEI Emeritus Fellow Regie Gibson recently chose four poems out of 138 entries for the Worcester County Poetry Association’s Frank O’Hara Prize.  Massachusetts residents accounted for all four winners.  Gibson will host a winners’ reading this fall, and the authors will have their work published by the WCPA.  Learn more...