Author Archives: Risa Denenberg

My blogginess is lagging while I am concentrating on a new project, The Poetry Cafe Online- a meeting place where poetry chapbooks are reviewed. C’mon over! New Reviews up at The Poetry Cafe!

Janice Gould, beloved Koyoonk’auwi (Concow) poet, friend, musician, and teacher, left our realm on 6/28/19. Headmistress Press joins with others in our grief at losing her much too soon, and our deep condolences to her beloved partner. We are proud … Continue reading →

It’s been a busy month for me. Sometimes there is drought: work, work, work, and little to show for it. Sometimes there is a Drizzle. And occasionally a refreshing, sudden-but-brief rain. Your work shines for a moment. And of course, … Continue reading →

Why I Write Poetry Reviews I’ve always wanted to read poems more deeply and with greater compassion. Writing reviews teaches me to read closely. It forces me to read slowly, to re-read, to scribble marginalia. Reading closely engenders intimacy. Compassionate … Continue reading →

I had a more-difficult-than-usual rejection this week of my current poetry manuscript. It was from a press that I love and support and greatly admire, and the pain didn’t come from the rejection– of course I didn’t expect “x” to … Continue reading →

I read entirely too fast. I’ve done this all of my life, with novels, finishing book after book in short order. I bring 5 or 6 novels with me for a week at the beach, and often buy another 1-2 … Continue reading →

I accomplished my two April challenges– ONE I wrote 30 poems, one each day, as a sonnet cycle. It was surprisingly easy to keep going, as every day I had a prompt from the previous poem. By about 4/12, I … Continue reading →

I had a bad week at work, or I should say a difficult week, since, truthfully, nothing bad actually happened. It just felt bad. Like I was driving a clunker, almost out of gas, miles from an off-ramp, behind an … Continue reading →