The giveaway guidelines ask participants to:

• Give away two books (one can be your own).
• Be willing to mail the books anywhere in the world.
• Pick a winner at the end of April or in early May.

If you’d like to enter the contests happening around the blogosphere, visit the blogs below and add your name to the comments field. Be sure to include a way for the blogger to contact you in case you win.

A. Book of Kells: Kelli Russell Agodon

B. Jessie Carty Blog: Jessie Carty

C. November Sky Poetry: Christine Klocek-Lim

D. Being Poetry: Erin Hollowell

E. WordGathering: Margo Roby

F. Danka’s World: Danica Grunert

G. Utopian Fragments: Guy Traiber

H. Ribbons of Intonation: Jim K.

I. Wait! I Have a Blog?!: Kathleen Kirk

J. Latoyalikestowrite: LaToya Jordan

K. Modern Confessional: Collin Kelley

L. One Poet’s Notes: Edward Byrne

M. Tribe of Mad Orphans: Ren Powell

N. Ophelia Unraveling: Carol Berg

O. The Scrapper Poet: Karen J. Weyant

P. The Alchemist’s Kitchen: Susan Rich

Q. Matthew Thornburn Blog: Matthew Thornburn

R. Naming Constellations: Joseph Harker

S. Drowning the Field: Katie Cappello

T. Who are “They” & Other Writing Advice: Laura Moe

U. Red Lion Square: Amy Watkins

V. Poet 2.0: Iris Jamahl Dunkle

W. Art Happens 365: Margaret Bednar

X. Alphabet Soup: Jama Rattigan

Y. The Lizard Meanders: Luisa Igloria

Z. Fredericks’ Reflections: O.P.W. Fredericks

Za. One Man’s Trash: Justin Evans

Zb. Joe’s Jacket: Stephen Mills

Zc. Myself the only Kangaroo Among the Beauty: Sandy Longhorn

Zd. Risa’s Pieces: Risa Denenberg

Ze. Ghosts in Parentheses: Barry Napier

Zf. Notes fro the Gefilter Review: Jehanne Dubrow

Zg. A View from the Potholes: Marie Gauthier

Zh. Habit of Poetry: Rita Mae Reese

Zi. Desire Seven Small Delicious Fruit: Cati Porter

Zj. The Graphic Haibuneer: Cindy Bell

Zk. Dear Outer Space: Laura E. Davis

Zl. Lorna Dee Cervantes Blog: Lorna Dee Cervantes

Zm. Jeannine Blogs: Jeannine Hall Gailey

Zn. Kristin Berkey-Abbott Blog: Kristin Berkey-Abbott

Zo. Writing With Celia: Celia Lisset Alvarez

Zp. Weaving a New Eden: Sherry Chandler

Zq. Rachel Dacus: Rocket Kids

Zr. Poemeleon: Cati Porter

Zs. Brian Spears Blog: Brian Spears

Zt. On Writing: Tawnysha Greene

Zu. 32 Poems: Deborah Ager

Zv. Put Words Together. Make Meaning.: DJ Vorreyer

Zw. Shiva’s Arms: Cheryl Snell

Zx. Proof of Blog: Luke Johnson

Zy. The Monster’s Flashlight: Nancy Lili

Writing Prompt

If your personal well of inspiration seems dry, never fear. I will be posting poetry prompts here from time to time. Here’s a five step prompt to help get you started, via Mary Biddinger by way of Deborah Ager:

1. Use a color as your title.
2. Write against what people associate with that color. If your color is yellow, write a sad poem. If your color is blue, write a cheery poem.
3. Invoke the name of a poet they way you’d invoke your own name in a ghazal.
4. Take a look at the Wikipedia page on poetic forms and choose a form. Write the poem in that form.
5. Use a form of water in your poem– ice, drop, drip, drizzle, mist, etc.

I’m on a high after completing a poem this past week. After a busy month full of various life events—that meant little poetry writing—I was asked to read a poem at a funeral for a person in a family I consider my second family. I’ve known this family for about thirty years and adore them all. I glanced through my book, Midnight Voices, and none of the poems said what I wanted to say at this funeral. Then, I turned to Hopkins and pondered Dylan Thomas even though I knew the request was to hear my words. As great as Thomas and Hopkins are and may be, they have not known this family for thirty years. Off I went to my studio—certain I could not and did not know how to write a poem—and out I came with a draft of something that was exactly how I want to be writing in the future. The future became the now.

Maureen is the brain behind this invention. The idea, based loosely on National Novel Writing Month, is to write a poem for each day in April. There are no rules. You can keep the poems to yourself, post them to your blog or pay someone to show them in Times Square. What you do is up to you. The only guideline is 30 poems in 30 days.

This is the real NaPoWriMo. You don’t have to pay. You don’t have to get pledges. You don’t have to do a darned thing. You don’t even have to write the poems. We won’t know. We won’t mind.

When writing my NaPoWriMo poem yesterday, I read a few poems on Verse Daily to get into that writing mood.

Then, I decided to play a game.

I looked up at the screen quickly, found a word, and used it in one of the next few lines. When I completed that, I’d either continue writing or look at the screen for another word before I continued writing. Using this method, I wrote two drafts that were where I wanted them to be. Yes, they are drafty, but I’m not concerned with perfection. I realized I even sent them out to my NaPoWriMo group with some typos. My goal here (I have to keep reminding myself) is not to look good or be perfect. The only goal is to write every day. If I get something I like, that’s an extra bonus.

Am I getting poems I like?

I might have 4-6 since March 17, which is when I started.

I went several days without writing anything I wanted to keep. Despite my best efforts, the lack of anything I liked started to bother me. Then, the above happened. What if I’d been frustrated and had not persisted? I would not have these additional poems. Keep on keeping on, everyone.

I wake up every day feeling like I have a hangover, and I’ve not even had the pleasure of drinking the night before. My car is coated with a thin yellow layer of pollen. Where does it come from? The innocent-looking daffodils?

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Are you doing NaPoWriMo? That’s the March question in the poetry world. In January of every year, the question is: “Are you going to AWP?” I ask these, too. What can I say?

This year, I AM participating in NaPoWriMo. I started on March 17 with a group of poets. We’re emailing our daily efforts to each other. The daily grind forces me to reach beyond what’s comfortable — out of desperation to make the deadline, perhaps — and write on new subjects, which often require a new (to me) form or structure.

During NaPoWriMo, I enjoy how my mind turns more often towards poetry creation. I especially enjoy the long drives I take a few times per week, because I’m able to come up with several phrases that work their way into poems. As I drift off to sleep, poem subjects come to mind.

I surprised myself today when I went back to look at drafts from March 17 and 18. I had completely forgotten the poems I wrote. I’m moving so fast — at this 1-2 poems per day rate — that I can’t keep the previous poems in mind for long. Move on, move on, move on is the mantra.

Come May, I’ll have a heavenly month of revision.

It’s December 18th, and I’m on poem #13. Ah, well. Shhh, I’m not perfect. However, the good news is that I have drafted 13 new poems. That is 13 more than I would have written otherwise.

Get thee a group and challenge each other to write a poem per day.

After graduation from my MFA program and back when I used a Mac Classic — sigh — I would send emails via AOL to buddies from my writing program. One in particular found me and wanted to stay in touch. I found that a bit odd only because my two years in Florida seemed like some other life. I did not expect to stay in touch with as many of the people as I did.

Since I’ve had good friends for 20-plus years, the friends who were only a year or so old seemed too new to keep. Dumb of me? Yes.

I kept my friends. I kept in touch even when I was ashamed at how little I was writing. They did not say anything. They did not need to say anything since I excelled in being disappointed with myself for my lack of writing.

I thought — how cute! — that I was too busy. I worked. Now I can only wonder (and perhaps dream) what else did I do with all of that time?

Now that I’m a mama (a hip one, I hope), I am really busy. In theory, I have no free time. Yet how do I accomplish so much? It’s one of those things I don’t want to question too much. The smoke and mirrors may remove themselves. I only want to accept that I am doing a lot and somehow continuing.

This month, I’m writing one poem per day. If I miss a day, I’m not being too hard on myself. I’m writing one poem per day despite my new two-hour commute to a client site. I’m writing despite owning a business. I’m writing despite running a magazine, having a family and having a number of people in my life fighting some scary-as-heck sicknesses.

So, there you go. If I can do it, you sure as heck can.

PROMPT: An oldie but a goodie. I first learned from this prompt from Dana Roeser. Just recently, Aimee Nez brought it back to mind. Write a poem using an object for inspiration. Help us see this object in a new or unusual way.

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It’s a new experience to find my current book “done” and to start working on the next one. Where does one book end and the other book begin?

I did not write a project-style book. If you are inspired to write one of these, it makes writing fellowship applications easier and it makes it easier to know when and where the next project begins. I imagine it makes more sense to a fellowship committee to hear that you want to write poems about the Salem witch trials (there are at least two poetry books on that topic) than that you wrote a collection of poems about this and that. I’m open to the possibility of being completely wrong about this assertion of mine.

I’m probably taking the weekend off of blogging. Enjoy your days.

In “Fugu Soup Blues” for example, the reader’s introduced to the toxic porcupine fish, “the only fish/ that can close its eyes.” But the poem moves beyond reportage of facts and into the terrain of people’s attraction to risky behavior, i.e. the consumption of such a dangerous delicacy.

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I have GOT to get tickets for LA and finish writing a fellowship application.

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Revised two of my NaPoWriMo poems. With one, I had no idea that the draft would turn into something I could keep. A pleasant surprise.

Thank you for the kind words on my poetry blog.

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I declare June is National Poetry Editing Month. You wrote your NaPoWriMo poems in April, forgot (or are forgetting) them in May and can edit them in June!

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Julianna Gray introduced by Ted Kooser.