Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a week in which three of my poems have been published!

FullSizeRender-51Paean to a Precious Possession

See the typewriter in this picture?

It’s the subject of a new poem, “My Mother’s Olivetti,” that’s now up on Writing the Words as part of a National Poetry Month celebration.

(Fun fact: I wrote the poem in response to a themed call from another venue. From which it was rejected.)

And yes, that’s me in the photo, getting an early start on the life of a practicing writer.

But wait–there’s more!

FullSizeRender-52First Hevria Byline

A second poem went live on Hevria on Monday.

“Black Sheep in the World to Come” was begun in an earlier iteration of Amy Gottlieb’s “Jewish Sources, Literary Narrative” class, another installment of which, you may recall, I’m currently taking). Like a lot of my work, it’s intimately connected with my family history.

When I began working on the piece, I was thinking mainly of the great-grandfather who is the eponymous “black sheep.” But as I continued revising it over time, and as the piece was accepted and prepared for publication, I found myself more drawn to the story of another great-grandparent, my father’s “Oma Anna,” who is also alluded to in the poem, and who is pictured here with me a long time ago.

Practicing Creativity

Finally, yesterday brought the news that a “winter haiku” of mine is now up on Michele Tracy Berger’s The Practice of Creativity site. It has a bit of backstory too, which accompanies the post (but it’s not family-related, unless you count the notion certain people in my family are known for abiding interests in the weather!). It was very kind of Michele to solicit the piece for National Poetry Month–and I’m also grateful for the generous words with which she has introduced the post.

10 thoughts on “Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

  1. Hi Erika,
    Congrats to a poem powered packed week! So lovely to have your poem on my blog. Thanks for all the inspiration.

  2. Erika Dreifus says:

    Thank you, Barbara and Michele!

  3. Cherri Gann says:

    Congratulations, Erika, for your three publications! Beautiful pieces, indeed.

  4. Myra says:

    Wow, what a week! Congratulations .

  5. Erika Dreifus says:

    Thanks so much, Cherri, and Myra. Hard to imagine when a week like this will happen again!

    1. Clive Collins says:

      Imagine, imagine! It’s what gave birth to the poems in the first place.

      1. Erika Dreifus says:

        True enough! Thanks, Clive.

  6. David Cooper says:

    Mazal Tov, Erika! Good writing! I’ve had three poems accepted for the same issue of a periodical a couple of times, but three poems accepted by three different periodicals in the same week is impressive for anyone who isn’t as prolific as, say, Lyn Lifshin. Best wishes for a sweet Pesach as kosher as you want it to be!

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      Thank you, and Chag Sameach!

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