I am delighted to have my poem “Toast in Costa Rica”
published in Pineapple, the online literary zine of
The Gallery of Readers. Take a look:
You can also subscribe to Pineapple by just listing your email with them here:
https://galleryofreaders.org/category/pineapple-zine/
Or you can visit the Gallery of Readers Press, a small, excellent publisher, and see its amazing list of books:
Gallery of Readers
I’ll be blogging on Thursdays. Follow me here.
As writers, we often feel that we don’t do enough. We don’t put enough hours into our writing,
we don’t do enough research before writing, and we don’t publish enough. When you finish a
piece of writing, give yourself a pat on the back: You finished a piece of creative writing—
something many attempt, but not quite as many achieve. I recently finished a manuscript called
Dread and Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Earth. I collaborated on it with the
Norwegian Artist, Irene Christensen. It’s a collection about the climate crisis and women at the
heart of it. I feel good about completing it.
Some writers consider the worth of their writing in the published pieces, but others don’t even
attempt to publish. The reward for them is in the process. You can share your writing at an
open-mic reading. You can post it online or bring it to an in-person writing group for
constructive critique. You can send it to a friend.
You can send it to a literary journal or an agent for possible publication, but that’s a topic for
another blog. As writers, we need to acknowledge our accomplishments for ourselves.
I’ll be blogging Thursdays about the writing process. Follow me here.
Manuscripts are not easy to put together, especially when they’re a collaboration. I have a new manuscript of eco-poetry that I am collaborating on with the Norwegian artists, Irene Christensen. I would like to write about the different stages of developing and publishing a manuscript.
The project started one winter at an artist colony, The Julia and David White Artist Colony, that sits on a naturally spectacular 17-acre rain forest, is in Costa Rica. We both shared a love of this beautiful country. I was drawn to Irene’s evocative full-color paintings. Irene expressed admiration for my poetry. I gave Irene a copy of my second poetry collection, Touch My Head Softly (Finishing Line Press, 2021) and she gave me her painting, “Volcano Flower.” This interaction started a conversation that over a two-year period developed into the manuscript, Dread and Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Planet.
The current collection comes from our common interest in natural beauty, the complex relationship between living things and the atmosphere, stopping exploitation of the earth that spans geographical and historical borders, and the feminine care at the center of environmentalism.
Irene worked on a series of art pieces about women at the heart of the environmental justice movement. I observed the creation of many of these remarkable paintings and wrote a series of ekphrastic poems, or written responses, to them. We nurtured our creativity and friendship through this process.
Irene’s paintings unfold as the world heats up and becomes more and more unlivable. She creates images through the eyes of children, mythical characters like trolls and goddesses, and the lenses of women witnessing the dying globe. I reinforce this journey in words, giving verbal credence to Irene’s vision, and mine, of the future.
I hope to blog about our journey as the manuscript goes through different stages and if we can even find a publisher. Follow me here on Thursdays to continue this journey.
I Feel Close to Nature Too. Acrylic, 22” x 30” by Irene Christensen
My poem “Perilous Journey” will be displayed with the painting of the same name by Irene Christensen at the ground floor Galleries of the Interchurch Center, 61 Claremont Avenue at 120th St., from November 17, 2023 to January 4, 2024. In addition, Irene will exhibit eight accordion books (5 from inspiration from her AIRIE residency in the Everglades,Florida) and 20 oil paintings. There will also be artwork by Allison Green and Sandra Mack-Valencia. The Interchurch Center is a a not-for-profit building built by the Rockefellers in 1950.
Take the #1 Subway to 116th Street and walk. The poem is from the manuscript, Dreadful Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Planet by Irene Christensen and Eileen P. Kennedy. I will blog on Thursdays again beginning January, 2024.
My poem “Perilous Journey” will be displayed with the painting of the same name by Irene Christensen at the Galleries of the Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Drive, New York City, from November 17, 2023 to January 4, 2024. In addition, Irene will exhibit eight accordion books (5 from inspiration from her AIRIE residency in the Everglades,Florida) and 20 oil paintings. The Interchurch Center is a a not-for-profit building built by the Rockefellers in 1950. @jrobertsstudio @norwaynewyork @gallerysitka @schaeffersgate5 @norskebilledkunstnere @nyartistscircle @culturelablic @licartists @beyond.art.oslo @nationalartsclub @artbookps1
From an Accordion Book by Irene Christensen
The painting and poem “Perilous Journey” appear in the environmental manuscript, Dreadful Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Planet.
I will refrain from blogging in December and begin again in January 2024. Happy New Year!
Gallery of Readers presents:
Eileen P. Kennedy and Barbara A. Rouillard reading from their work
Sunday, November 19 at 4 p.m.Northampton Friends Meeting Hall
43 Center Street, Suite 202 Northampton, MA.
Come join us, all are welcome!
For those how can’t or prefer not to attend in person, the Zoom link below is available from 3.45 p.m. EDT on the day of the reading.(Be aware no admittance after 4.05 p.m. for security purposes.) Contact me for the link if you want to zoom. Follow me here on Thursdays.
Eileen P. Kennedy is the author of two collections of poetry: Banshees (Flutter Press, 2015), which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won Second Prize in Poetry from the Wordwrite Book Awards, andTouch My Head Softly (Finishing Line Press, 2021) which Literary Titan has described as “emotionally-charged poetry that explores life with observant poems that will appeal to anyone who loves inspired poetry.” It was a finalist for the International Book Awards in General Poetry. She lives in Amherst, MA with the ghost of Emily Dickinson. More at EileenPKennedy.com.
Barbara A. Rouillard, of Springfield, Massachusetts, has over eighty-five publishing credits to her name and was the recipient of both a NEH Fellowship and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant. She received her MA in English in 2007. She was a special education teacher at West Springfield High School for thirty-two years. In her retirement, she studies French, writes, and travels with her husband William.
Gallery of Readers presents:
Eileen P. Kennedy and Barbara A. Rouillard reading from their work
Sunday, November 19 at 4 p.m.Northampton Friends Meeting Hall
43 Center Street, Suite 202 Northampton, MA.
Come join us, all are welcome!
For those how can’t or prefer not to attend in person, the Zoom link below is available from 3.45 p.m. EDT on the day of the reading.(Be aware no admittance after 4.05 p.m. for security purposes.) Contact me for the link if you want to zoom.
Eileen P. Kennedy is the author of two collections of poetry: Banshees (Flutter Press, 2015), which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won Second Prize in Poetry from the Wordwrite Book Awards, andTouch My Head Softly (Finishing Line Press, 2021) which Literary Titan has described as “emotionally-charged poetry that explores life with observant poems that will appeal to anyone who loves inspired poetry.” It was a finalist for the International Book Awards in General Poetry. She lives in Amherst, MA with the ghost of Emily Dickinson. More at EileenPKennedy.com.
Barbara A. Rouillard, of Springfield, Massachusetts, has over eighty-five publishing credits to her name and was the recipient of both a NEH Fellowship and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant. She received her MA in English in 2007. She was a special education teacher at West Springfield High School for thirty-two years. In her retirement, she studies French, writes, and travels with her husband William.
Gallery of Readers, one of Western Massachusetts prime publishers and leader of writing workshops, will sponsor a reading on Sunday, November 19 at 4 pm at the Friends Meeting House of Northampton, 43 Center Street. The reading is available in person or on zoom.
Barbara A. Rouillard will read from her memoir, I Don’t Mind Waiting for You. Barbara is an award-winning writer with 85 publishing credits and the recipient of an NEH Fellowship and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant.
Eileen P. Kennedy will be reading from her two poetry collections, Banshees (Flutter Press, 2016) Touch My Head Softly (Finishing Line Press, 2021) and her new eco-poetry manuscript Dreadful Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Planet which she collaborated on with the Norwegian Artist, Irene Christensen.
If you want the zoom link, contact me here. Follow me here. I blog on Thursdays.
SAVE THE DATE: THE GLOUCESTER WRITERS CENTER PRESENTS WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE CHERYL J. FISH ON FRIDAY, OCT. 20 AT 7 PM.
Cheryl J. Fish, author of the debut novel OFF THE YOGA MAT and the poetry collection THE SAUNA IS FULL OF MAIDS will be reading and in conversation with Gloucester Writing Center member/poet Heidi Wakeman about writing novels and poems based on travels, friendships, coming of middle age, and the role of yoga and sauna in Fish’s fiction and poetry.
Friday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.
At THE LITTLE ARTS CINEMA 19 School St, Rockport, MA 01966. THERE WILL BE A Q&A AND BOOK SIGNING. For more information, contact Eric Parkison, eric@gloucesterwriters.org
“Fish’s debut novel Off the Yoga Mat is smart, soulful, and surprising,”
Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of The Waters (Jan. 2024 from WW Norton)
“The Sauna is Full of Maids illustrates ‘a longing for
eternal things.'” These timeless essentials include friendship and the naked democracy of the sauna.” Paul Hoover, author of O, and Green.
I will be blogging on Thursdays. If you have an upcoming reading let me know, and I’ll blog it.
Follow me here.
Eileen P. Kennedy Author 