Authors Electric

Writers sometimes talk about poems as though longer automatically means deeper. We admire ambitious epics, book-length projects, and intricate sequences. There is certainly a place for all of those things. But every now and then a tiny poem arrives and quietly reminds us that a few words can carry an astonishing amount of weight. Take this poem, "Second Grade," by Merilee Johnson: That's it. Three lines. Eight words. And yet, the poem opens an entire world. I immediately find myself wondering about the child in the poem. Was she shy? Outgoing? Did she look forward to hearing her name each morning? Was the bus driver teasing, greeting, or celebrating her? Was it a song repeated every day, becoming part of the rhythm of childhood? The poem never tells us. Instead, it trusts us. One of the remarkable things about very short poems is how much they rely on the reader. Longer works often have room to explain, develop, and elaborate. A poem like this succeeds because it provides...

  Ellis Elliott is a poet, author, and the founder of  Bewilderness Writing , a weekly online workshop where writers gather to explore the fertile wilderness of their creative subconscious through freewriting from poetry prompts. Since 2020, she has cultivated a brave and supportive community that values expression over perfection, helping participants quiet their inner critic and discover their authentic voices on the page. This year, Ellis released the first  Bewilderness Journal , showcasing the powerful, intimate work that has emerged from these sessions. I sat down with Ellis to talk about how the workshops began, what it took to grow this community, the inspiration behind the new journal, and what’s next for  Bewilderness Writing .   Dianne Pearce (Dianne):  Thanks so much for the meetup Ellis. I was lucky enough to be in one of your Bewilderness sessions, and I have always wondered w hat inspired you to start Bewilderness Writing back in 2...

Hi lovely   AE   readers, Dianne here. I run the publishing company Current Words Publishing, which is partner publishing company. In addition to doing partner publishing my company also founded and supports Old Scratch Press (OSP), a poetry/short form collective. In 2025 OSP and its members are going to open up more opportunities for people not in the collective to have a chance to have their work in poetry or short form published. Currently there are opportunities remaining this year through Current Words Publishing’s literary magazine INSTANT NOODLES . Recently Morgan Golladay, an author I have worked with many times, has recently won a few awards for both her fiction and her poetry,  and through OSP has just published her first book, THE SONG OF NORTH MOUNTAIN which she both wrote and illustrated.  I sat down to talk with her ( https://www.facebook.com/morgangolladayfineartist )  about her book and her work.   Current Words Publishing (CWP):  Wha...