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Q&A with Poet Stephanie L. Harper (Part 2)

/ stephanielharper / 2 Comments

Thank you, Sir Robert, for your generosity and insightfulness in this interview, and for everything you do in general to promote a sense of authentic connectedness that’s so vital to poetry and Poetkind!

O at the Edges

I’m pleased to present part 2 of the Q&A with poet Stephanie L. Harper:

If you were a poetic form, which would you be?

I would be a poetic form that could seep down into darkness, molecule by molecule, through miles of porous rock, to return to the wellspring, then rise again to the surface, and wash over the grief-stricken with the all immensity of love and joy in my depths. I’m pretty sure that would make me an elegy.

What themes or traits will readers find in your work? What will they not find?

My work is chock full of mythological creatures, archetypal symbolism, and nature imagery (i.e., birds, seascapes, wolves, forests, volcanoes). It touches often on spirituality (and/or religiosity), sometimes alludes to current events (and associated dismay), and has an overall feminist and philosophical bent. My love for and awe of my children shows up a lot, too…

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Alabaster

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alabaster
Alabaster

I am a pink rose petal’s pale glow

black ash tamped in furrows
between the breaths of the living
& the droning of the dead

the dawn’s blush unfurling over sand dunes

& seagulls soaring on thermal spirits
of iodine     salt     & shellfish

& sometimes     scattering in the wind
I can’t find where everything else ends     & I begin

Now rising from the morning hush     this cloud of me
speaks to the red tail hawk perched on a streetlamp
& tells her I’m fine     because I’m still not sure
how to talk about not being fine

I am an instar     trying to be
the clearest version of myself     to sculpt
a final skin of lucent crystal

so that when you come to see my cinder eyes
glinting diamond dust     I will be
the embered dusk bleeding into the sea

& you will know the truth of me

STEPHANIE L. HARPER

“Alabaster,” having first appeared in print in Sixfold magazine, winter 2014, is included in my new chapbook, This Being Done,

Harper_Stephanie_COV

available now at Finishing Line Press until April 27, 2018, for pre-publication order. The number of orders received during this period will determine the print-run scheduled for release on June 22, 2018. I’m grateful for your timely orders to help my work take flight! RESERVE YOUR COPY HERE TODAY!

My new chapbook is now available!

/ stephanielharper / 10 Comments

It’s officially official! My debut poetry collection, This Being Done, is now available for prepublication order! RESERVE YOUR COPY HERE: Finishing Line Press!

Beesiness As Usual_Matthew Harper

Thank you to my son, Matthew Harper, for contributing his gorgeous photograph, “Beesiness as Usual” for use on the cover of THIS BEING DONE. According to the timeline I received from Finishing Line Press, the graphic designer should have my cover design completed sometime this week! I’ll be sharing it here as soon as it’s ready!

I’m so grateful to my WordPress Poetry Posse for your interest in, enthusiasm for, and support of my work! I can’t emphasize enough the difference you make in my life as a poet, artist, and human being, in general.

I must also give a shout-out to poet and human extraordinaire, Robert Okaji, whose guidance has been instrumental in this venture. Thank you, Bob, for sharing your many talents with our community, and for your wisdom, humility, and generosity of spirit that so enrich my life, and the lives of countless others!

 

 

 

Recording of Robert Okaji’s Poem, “Mayflies”

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Hear the words that inspired this artwork for the cover of Robert Okaji’s new chapbook, *From Every Moment A Second* in the voice of the man himself!

O at the Edges

“Mayflies” is included in my chapbook, From Every Moment a Second, forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. FLP is taking prepublication orders here. It was also the inspiration for the artwork gracing the cover. I am in debt to Stephanie L. Harper for providing such a vivid and appropriate piece of art for the book.

Please note:  prepublication sales determine the print run, which means this stage is crucial in terms of how many copies will be printed and the number of copies I’ll receive as payment. So if you feel inclined to help, and are able, please purchase your copy before August 11. Thank you!

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Cover Art for Robert Okaji’s New Chapbook!

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Cover_Okaji

Not only was I deeply honored when Robert Okaji enlisted me to be the cover artist for his new chapbook, From Every Moment A Second, but the task proved to be one of the most inspiring and rewarding creative endeavors of my life.

I call this piece, “Dream of Flight,” after a line from a poem in Bob’s stunning collection, entitled, “Mayflies.” I hope it offers readers a small sense of the ways in which my life will never again be the same for having read this magnificent little collection of poetry!

Click HERE to order Robert Okaji’s beautiful new chapbook:

FEMAS Mock cover

available for pre-publication purchase from Finishing Line Press between now and August 11, 2017, and scheduled to ship on October 6, 2017!

 

May 2017 Tupelo Press 30/30 Challenge!

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TP3030-logo-360

I’ve really done it now… Starting today, for the month of May 2017, I will be participating in the Tupelo Press  30/30 Challenge—a program that both raises funds for a non-profit champion of the literary arts, and provides an online platform for poets to showcase their humiliat-er-heroic efforts to take their writing practices to new, poetic heights—which means that I will be relying on a month-long, panic-induced adrenaline surge to compose a new poem each day for 30 days!

But wait…there’s more!

In order to make my poetic endeavors as fruitful and rewarding as possible for all involved (because, face it, I will involve you, one way or the other), and to encourage your generous funding of a cornerstone of literary excellence in the independent publishing industry, Tupelo Press, I hereby offer these valuable incentives for DONATIONS in the following amounts:

$15: Commission a Sonnet! Shall I write of Rainbows? Broccoli? A Colonoscopy? Porcupines? A Holiday or Event? Your wish is my command (as long as it won’t get me arrested)!

$15: Specify 3 words for me to include a poem. If it’s Google-able, it’s fair game!

$15: Name that Title! You provide the title, and I’ll provide its poem in an unspecified format (probably free verse, but it could end up being rhymey and/or metrical). If you can think it up, I’ll give it my best shot to do it justice!

$25: Combo Deal! Choose any two of the three options (Sonnet and Words, Words and Title, or Sonnet and Title).

$35: Best bang for your buck! Combine all three options!

Donate Here , then submit your assignments to me via my email . Your requests will be honored in the order in which they are received.

$Any Amount: Express your support for this worthy cause at your discretion! Your vote of confidence in me (and in the poetic arts) will be of enormous help!

Thank you, Everyone, for your support and enthusiasm as I take on this unprecedented (for me…) challenge!

Let’s make some poetry!