GIVEAWAY! A Chance to Win 2 Books of Poems (Agodon & Austen) or a Poetry Anthology for National Poetry Month!

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Big Poetry Book Giveaway!

If you have a blog and would like to participate by giving away 2 favorite poetry books on your blog, click here for more details.

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As for me, I'm Kelli (aka Kells), the one who started this event for poets/poetry two years ago after being inspired by artists-who-blog who put together a similar giveaway in February.


Some things about me--

I am a poet, writer, & editor (in that order).

I recently founded an indie press with my friend Annette Spaulding-Convy called Two Sylvias Press.  Our first project was anthology by women poets called Fire on her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Contemporary Women's Poetry.


Annette & I also edit Seattle's 29 year old print literary journal, Crab Creek Review (we are currently hosting our annual Crab Creek Review Poetry Contest, btw.)

Here are a few things about me--


I believe in hard work and kindness.  

I work at balancing my life as a writer/mother/poet/wife/editor/artist.  It's hard, but satisfying in many ways. 

My favorite color is orange.  For a while it was plaid.

I am currently working on a third collection of poems and a few other collaborative projects with some incredible poets.






My writing process is to sit down and write daily.  I will also be writing a poem a day for National Poetry Month.


Art museums are my church.

My newest hobby is stand-up paddleboarding and I'll be competing in my first 10K race in August.  


That last statement may make me seem more athletic than I am.  I really love staying in bed to read.  I also love hammocks and napping.
I live in the Northwest & have always lived in the Northwest.

Some of my favorite blogs are:


January O'Neil's PoetMom
Susan Rich's The Alchemist's Kitchen
Martha Silano's Blue Positive
Jeannine Gailey's Jeannine Blogs
I love postal mail, keylime pie, typewriters, swing music, and anything vintage.  I sometimes think I was born in the wrong decade.

I like to giveaway things.

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2 FREE BOOKS GIVEAWAY--


Book 1:

The first book I'm giving away is my book, Letters From the Emily Dickinson Room (White Pine Press Poetry Prize Series, 2010)

It's a book about trying to find calmness in a chaotic world. 

Some notes about it:  The titles of the poems are in alphabetical order, the second section has letters to Vincent van Gogh, Walt Whitman & a past life, and there are two poems made up of anagrams.  


It won two awards which makes me happy-- the ForeWord Book of the Year Prize in Poetry and it was also a finalist for the Washington State Book Awards.  (So your book will have 2 gold stickers on it and I'll sign it for you too - whoopee.)


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The second book of poems I'm giving away is called Every Dress a Decision written by an incredible poet and a good friend of mine, Elizabeth Austen.


Besides having one of the best book covers I've ever seen, the poems in this collection are amazing. One of my very favorite and one I love to hear Elizabeth read is called "Problem Was."  The voice in this poem is spot-on.  


Here's the opening to another one of my favorite poems "Prayer for Relief"--


Dear God
Please let me write a funny poem.
Seven days on the island and so far it's
death, death, death, death, and
grief, which is to say, death.




The whole book is full of wonderful poems like that.  You'll love this collection and if you're a poet, it will probably inspire your own writing as it definitely inspires mine.


You can learn more about Elizabeth Austen and her work here.


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And while I know we only have to give out two books of poems, I also will offer this to three winners:

Fire On Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Contemporary Women's Poetry, edited by Kelli Russell Agodon & Annette Spaulding-Convy


It's an incredible collection of about 79 women poets who are writing today and is the very first eBook anthology of its kind!  


Poets in the collection include Jane Hirshfield, Dorianne Laux, Kim Addonizio, Natasha Saje', Aimee Nezhukumatathil, to name a few.  But there are many many more.  Here's the full list.


It's a great anthology to help introduce you to new poets!


You do not need an eBook Reader to read it as you can read it on any laptop or computer, however, if you have one, I can send you a version that will work on your Kindle, iPad, Nook, etc.  


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So there we are!  5 winners - 2 collections of poems, one anthology! Not bad for just leaving your name and email in the comment section.




This drawing is open from now through ALL OF APRIL, National Poetry Month!

If you'd like to be entered, please leave your name and email address by midnight, APRIL 30th, 2012 in the comment section of this post and I'll be randomly choosing 2 lucky winners for the books and 3 lucky winners for the anthology on the week of May 1st, 2012.


Good luck & Good Reading!

xo,
Kells



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