The Shadow Artist Emerges

Conclusion of A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver I’ve been a “shadow artist” too long. It wasn’t until I began reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron last week that I discovered the name for it: “Artists themselves but ignorant of their true identity, shadow artists are to be found shadowing declared artists.” “Creativity is play, … Continue reading →

Verse that is Free

Montmartre by John Althouse Cohen via Flickr While reading A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver, the following lines from the chapter “Verse that is Free” about the evolution of free verse poetry really struck me: “Now a line was needed that would sound and feel not like formal speech but like conversation. What was needed was … Continue reading →