At first, I didn't particularly enjoy or understand Jean Valentine's work, and yet my friend T. had worked closely with her, so I felt motivated to find out what she was up to, even if I hadn't connected with it yet. Eventually, my friend Jen gave me today's poem, "Little Map," as well as several other favorites, and we spent time talking about them. Her interest and enthusiasm helped me enter the work, and soon I fell in love with it.  Now I consider her among my favorite poets. A Tutelary Spirit. This poem is from her book 'The Cradle of Real Life,' published in 2000 by Wesleyan University Press.

Poem Crush: "Little Map," By Jean Valentine

A poem about saying goodbye and begging and grief and f-ing up and the power of the word please, from the book 'Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry,' by Jim Daniels, published by Carnegie Mellon University Press in 2011.

Poem Crush:  "James Brown Esperanto," By Jim Daniels

You are not alone.
Unseen forces assist you.
A pep talk for poets by Holly Wren Spaulding

Pep Talk for Poets: Arranging the Bouquet

Note that this recording mentions a text by Thomas A Clark, which can be found in the reading packet for Week 3 of A Secret Life. Also, this was recorded in 2018, and so it refers to a different week in the sequence of that year's course. Don't let that distract you.

Week 3: A Secret Life / Space

This pep talk was recorded for participants in the 2020 session of A Body of Work and concerns the experience of receiving feedback on work in progress: how it feels, how to work with hard feelings, and why we must keep going.

Pep Talk: On Feedback

60 minute generative writing workshop with Holly Wren Spaulding.

Includes two poems by Raymond Carver ("Rain" and "Sunday Night" and one by Tess Gallagher, "Refusing Silence") which we used to spark some of our own writing..