Last year, I gave away my book (Midnight Voices) and Pablo Neruda’s Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair.

This year, I am giving away the following two books:

Midnight Voices by me. I publish 32 Poems Magazine and have had poems appear in New South, The Georgia Review, and other places. You can learn more about my background at my poetry website. If you win, I will sign the book for you and send it to you for Zero Dollars.

Midnight Voices by Deborah Ager

The second book is Mortal Geography by Alexandra Teague. This book is one of my favorite contemporary collections. I will be sad to part with it, and I will buy another to replace it. Please feel welcome to read this sample poem or this poem, which appeared in 32 Poems Magazine.

Remember to leave your name in the comments to enter this contest. I will choose a winner toward the end of April and mail out the two books in early May.

Get more information on Kelli Russell Agodon’s Blog.

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.

Creating and letting it go seems to work for me. Being able to come back at the poem with fresh eyes helps me with the revision. I can hear and see what needs to be edited.

A few poems I wrote in previous NaPoWriMos were accepted for publication.

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?

—-

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.