Author’s Note: “Sometimes when I sit quietly and pay attention, the story tells itself. Watching the pelicans, I began to contemplate the way life balances itself out: sometimes together, sometimes ... [Continue Story]
Author’s Note: “Keenly aware of the transient beauty along the dirt roads in County Claire, Ireland, I began this poem as a way to notice, savor, and hold these precious images close. But I ask: Am I ... [Continue Story]
Author’s Note: “The Lesser Snow Goose was written shortly before my mother died. She is the ‘you’ in the poem—very ill, sitting beside me in the waiting area before a doctor’s visit. It felt fitting ... [Continue Story]
Author’s Note: “The history of the human race sadly seems also to be the history of warfare. In this poem I imagine what it would be like to be living on the edge of a war zone as fighting starts to break out, as is happening right now in Ukraine. The character in my poem is someone who lives, as I do, a secluded life in the country. He is perhaps Japanese; he is a sort of hermit.”... [Continue Story]
Author’s Note: “I was one of the first students to graduate from Howard University with an undergraduate degree in African American Studies. I learned a lot about the history of the Black family from reading books and attending conferences. This experience however didn’t explain the quiet dignity of my father. His love for his family was not an abstraction but a difficult and fragile thing I came to honor. I was grateful for my father who worked hard everyday to provide a roof over my head. Today I still struggle to understand the mystery of his strength and the power he found not to leave or close a door.”... [Continue Story]
Author’s Note: “‘In the Distance’ speaks to the idea that we might travel in order to get distance from something, perhaps a past in need of healing, but that the story will follow close behind. The unnamed “unrelenting story” in the poem might pursue us full circle, even circumnavigate the globe. But on a hopeful note, the expansive nature of travel does allow one to experience the world differently and perhaps see things with new eyes, toward a different end.”... [Continue Story]
Author’s Note: “The Wizard of Oz was probably one of the first movies I ever watched, and I loved the Wicked Witch. Often, villains are my favorite part of narratives, and she terrified me—her laugh, ... [Continue Story]
Author’s Note: “This poem explores the ways we attempt to justify our privileges to ourselves. While I wrote it thinking primarily of my own white middle class American culture, it asks questions more ... [Continue Story]
Delmarva Review's Executive Editor Wilson Wyatt emcees the brilliant performance of ten contributing writers (Volume 14), sponsored by The Writers Center in Bethesda, MD (many thanks) on November 20, 2021.
Our featured writers include (with approximate start times):
Caroline Bock [7:27]
Holly Karapetkova [14:40]
Irene Hoge Smith [17:06]
Jona Colson [22:29]
Susan Land [27:33]
Judith McCombs [35:00]
Sue Eisenfeld [38:38]
Katherine Williams [49:02]
Ronan Keenan [53:08]
Adam Tamashasky [59:15]
Listen now...
Click below for a transcribed edition...
Author’s Note: “The poem began with a prompt—to show the beauty of something ugly. Having lived in the DMV all my life, and recently read a history of the Chesapeake Bay, I thought of the oyster. It is not attractive, but it is vital to the bay and, of course, delicious to eat. The poem imagines life from the oyster’s point of view.” ...[Continue Story]
