Genre: Poetry

Sparrow Poem

The Time Is Now
8.26.25

Sparrows have appeared in poetry throughout time—from Catullus writing about Lesbia’s pet sparrow to works by Sappho, Emily Dickinson, William Butler Yeats, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Charles Bukowski. In Susan Howe’s Penitential Cries, forthcoming in September from New Directions, the concluding poem, “Chipping Sparrow,” with its clipped pacing and sound, as if to mimic a sparrow’s, illuminates a clear-eyed but lyrical notion of time as well as the physicality of life as experienced from the eighty-eight-year-old poet’s perspective. “Left the body // Drowsd a little / Done with soul / – // What to think / Dusting up crown // Garment mirror / Pull me close / – // Quietness and calm / Rest and rejoice // No more doubt / Astonishing!” Spend some time browsing through poems that mention this ubiquitous bird and note the range of symbolism: eros, love, humility, fragility. Then write your own sparrow poem that commemorates where you are in your life.

Still Alive

The Time Is Now
8.19.25

In her elegiac poem “the rites for Cousin Vit,” Gwendolyn Brooks captures the aliveness of a loved one as she lays in her casket. Brooks writes: “Even now she does the snake-hips with a hiss, / Slops the bad wine across her shantung, talks / Of pregnancy, guitars and bridgework, walks.” Write a poem that captures the vibrant, unmistakable presence of someone you remember vividly, whether they are near or far, alive or gone. Focus on the small, lively details that make them unique: their gestures, their voice, the habits that linger in your memory. Consider how these fragments—imperfect, intimate, and raw—keep that person alive in your mind.

REC.ON Ecovillage Artist & Writing Residency

September/October 2025

The REC.ON Ecovillage Artist & Writing Residency offers two- to four-week residencies year-round to poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators in the picturesque village of La Mata de Bolaimí near the Sierra María–Los Vélez mountains in Andalucía, Spain. Residents are provided with a private single- or double-occupancy room in a restored rural house and have shared access to a kitchen, a living room, a permaculture garden, and outdoor writing spaces. Residents can also work in the REC.ON gallery, a coworking and exhibition space for focused writing.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
December 17, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
yes
Application Deadline: 
December 17, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
December 17, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

REC.ON Ecovillage Artist & Writing Residency, Paraje Bolaimí s/n 04820 Vélez Rubio, Almería, Spain. Paulina Bielecka, Owner. 

Paulina Bielecka
Owner
Contact City: 
Vélez Rubio, Almería
Country: 
ES
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Translation

List og Land Northern Lights Residency

September/October 2025

The List og Land Northern Lights Residency offered three-week residencies from October 1 to October 24 and from November 1 to November 24 at Laugaból Farm on Arnarfjörður, a fjord in Iceland, to poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators. Residents who lodged at the farmhouse were provided with a double-occupancy room, two shared bathrooms, a full kitchen, a dining room, and a living room.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
December 17, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
December 17, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
December 17, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

List og Land Northern Lights Residency, Laugaból 0, 466 Bildadalur, Westfjörds, Iceland. (323) 552-1294. Leslie Schwartz, Cofounder.

Leslie Schwartz
Cofounder
Contact City: 
Arnarfjörður
Country: 
IS
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Translation

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