Bone Country Reviewed in the San Francisco Journal of Arts and Letters, ZYZZYVA

A book review of Bone Country was recently published in ZYZZYVA, a San Francisco journal of arts and letters. The journal has been a cultural beacon for the West Coast and beyond since 1985.

Click here to read the review.

Bone Country Named a Top 10 Most Read Poetry Book in North of Oxford’s National Poetry Month April Edition

Linda’s new book, Bone Country, is one of the top ten most read poetry book reviews at North of Oxford for April, National Poetry Month.

To read the review, click the link below:
https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2023/04/17/ten-most-poetry-book-reviews-at-north-of-oxford-as-of-national-poetry-month/

Bone Country is reviewed in North of Oxford

Bone Country is reviewed in North of Oxford, an online literary journal based in Philadelphia.

Click here to visit the North of Oxford website to read the review.

Linda Nemec Foster Prose Poems Accepted for Publication by MSU Libraries’ Short Editions

Linda Nemec Foster’s two prose poems were accepted for publication by MSU Libraries’ Short Editions.

In addition, these pieces, “Abandoned House in the Tatra Mountain” and “House of Strong Light–El Escorial”, were selected to be considered for inclusion in MSU’s Filmetry: A Festival of Poetry and Film in 2022.

For more information, contact Cindy Hunter Morgan at: [email protected]

Linda Nemec Foster’s Visual Artist Collaborations Selected for WordView Exhibit

Linda Nemec Foster has two collaborations with visual artists selected for the WordView Exhibit sponsored by LowellArts in Lowell, MI.

Her poem “Pause: Seasons of Pandemic” was inspired by Meridith Ridl’s painting, “Pause,” and her poem “Dance” was inspired by Dianne Carroll Burdick’s hand-colored photograph of the same title. The juried show is open to the public from January 8-February 19, 2022.

For more information, contact the gallery at: [email protected].

“My Silent Uncle and His Orchids” is published in the Writing After Roethke: A 2022 Calendar

Linda Nemec Foster’s poem, “My Silent Uncle and His Orchids,” was published in the Writing After Roethke: A 2022 Calendar.

Other poets included in this project are Patricia Hooper, Robert Fanning, Matthew Gavin Frank, Cindy Hunter Morgan, A. Van Jordan, and Bob Hicok.

For more information, contact Chris Giroux (Project Coordinator) at Saginaw Valley State University at: [email protected].

WHY I WRITE – by Linda Nemec Foster

Linda Nemec Foster’s essay is featured on the website, Write Across Chicago, which is sponsored by the Illinois Writing Project based at Northeastern Illinois University. A member of the Society of Midland Authors, Linda is the only non-Illinois resident featured on the website.

To read the full article, please click here!


WHY I WRITE – by Linda Nemec Foster

 

ON WRITING

By Linda Nemec Foster

I write because I want to connect with others. I’m primarily a poet and I love poetry for the powerful way it uses language and the blankness around line breaks and stanzas to reflect metaphor, imagery, tone, rhythm, and pacing. Poetry is the only kind of writing where what you don’t say (think of all that white space on the page that surrounds a poem) is as important as what you do say (the language that encompasses each line). And when a poem is read out loud–connecting it to that ancient oral tradition that was the precursor to all written literature–the process is complete.

I also write flash fiction and prose poems that balance the tone between narrative and lyric voices. I like to work with this dichotomy: it’s an ambitious exercise but when the piece can achieve that balance between a narrative arc and strong lyricism, it’s nothing short of magic.

When I’m starting a new poem, I’ll write the first drafts in longhand on a yellow legal pad or a standard notebook. On average, this process of early drafting can result in five to ten rough drafts; that is, every poem I create begins in drafts of at least five to ten versions. After I determine that the piece has achieved a decent structure of form and content, I take the most recent draft and type it on the computer. The revision process continues as I see how the structure evolves as a typed piece. This is particularly essential for poetry as line breaks, stanzas, and section breaks are readily formatted on the computer screen. Currently, a lot of poets and writers prefer to compose directly on the computer but I’m “old school.” I love to feel the paper, to hold the pen, to cross out words and add lines. It’s a tactile and visceral experience for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know the computer is essential for final revisions but that initial creative spark–the first drafts–are always handwritten.

My work of being a poet, a writer, and now (after eleven published poetry collections) an author has enriched my life in ways that are inestimable. True, there is no money in poetry. But the intangible rewards are gratifying and humbling. The most amazing situation I experienced as a writer was when I received an email from a person I never met. This woman had purchased one of my poetry books–a collection of haiku and visual art–that was a quiet meditation on nature and our place in the natural world. Every day she would read excerpts from the book to her friend who was in the advanced stages of terminal cancer. The poetry gave both of them a sense of peace and serenity as one life ended and one life carried on. No award or recognition could match the significance of those words from that stranger.

Linda Nemec Foster is a poet, writer, literary presenter, and founder of the Contemporary Writers Series at Aquinas College. She is the author of eleven collections of poetry including The Lake Michigan Mermaid (with Anne-Marie Oomen), Talking Diamonds, Amber Necklace from Gdańsk, Listen to the Landscape, and Living in the Fire Nest.

Book Review of The Lake Michigan Mermaid in NewPages

Linda’s new book, The Lake Michigan Mermaid, is reviewed in NewPages which is a major online source for book reviews, publishing, and the literary world.

To read the full review, please click here!

The Lake Michigan Mermaid — Michigan Bestseller for April, 2018

Linda Nemec Foster’s most recent book, The Lake Michigan Mermaid, with Anne-Marie Oomen is listed among the top five bestsellers (fiction category) in Michigan by several state media outlets.

View The Morning Sun’s Bestsellers List for April 2018.

To purchase a copy of “The Lake Michigan Mermaid”, click here!

 

 

Linda Nemec Foster Interviewed on Michigan Public Radio

Bulgarian photography and Michigan poetry inspire an album

“Cry of Freedom” is an album by Ann Arbor musician Laszlo Slomovits, but it’s not your ordinary record.

The album is actually a collection of poems by Grand Rapids poet and writer Linda Nemec Foster that has been set to music.

Foster’s poetry that is featured on “Cry of Freedom” is from her book Ten Songs from Bulgaria. The poetry is inspired by photographs taken by Jacko Vassilev.

Linda Nemec Foster and Laszlo Slomovitz will perform excerpts from the work at 7 pm tonight at Nicola’s Bookstore in Ann Arbor.

Originally Published by Michigan Radio, Listen to the full story>