Poetry - Solace in a Book

Summer Palace

08/28/2011 By Ellen Beals Leave a Comment

"This photo was taken when I went to Beijing," writes Kathy Buckland from Glenview, IL, "We were at the Summer Palace, which is a peaceful, beautiful place, and I thought this scene was worth capturing." … [Read more...]

Writing after war

08/28/2011 By Ellen Beals

Shortly after I heard from Solace in So Many Words contributor D. J. Lachance ("Nagasaki Shadows") about posting his short short ("The Fall") as a guest blog, two notices about writing after war came across my desk. The first is a post by John Evans on his Wellness & Writing Connections Facebook site, "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) flashbacks shatter normalcy and the new identity you try to live. If you have PTSD, writing after a flashback can help you … [Read more...]

The Fall by D. J. Lachance

08/28/2011 By Ellen Beals 1 Comment

D. J. Lachance D. J. Lachance (Dave) has read at two events for Solace in So Many Words. He always gives credit to his wife Lucille for urging him to write when he returned home from the Gulf War. “Nagasaki Shadows” and “The Fall” are part of a stage play called Voices from the Café, which is going to be produced in Iran. In his Author’s Notes, Dave writes: “Voices From The Cafe was created by weaving together short stories and poetry with stage directions and the … [Read more...]

A creative family: The Kanters

08/22/2011 By Ellen Beals Leave a Comment

I think I first met Carol Kanter ("Her Best Medicine," "Alternative Eulogy" and "The Advanced Course") in the back of Books on Vernon when we both signed on for a poetry-writing class with Larry Starzec; he is a former businessman who came to poetry as a second career, studied at one of those low-residency programs and now teaches at Lake County College. This was in the 1990s. If my memory serves me correctly, Fran Podulka, Constance Vogel and Joyce Gordon were also signed on … [Read more...]

Love the Irish

08/15/2011 By Ellen Beals Leave a Comment

Everyone who knows me knows I have a thing for anything Irish. But that's not why I love Poetry Ireland. I love Poetry Ireland because it is the best poetry journal out there. Though the subscription is pricey, I will never let it lapse. And I can never let go of an issue because it is the kind of journal you can re-visit often and always find something of interest. Of course the poetry is top-notch but so are the essays and reviews. Plus, a subscription comes with a … [Read more...]