The Poem That Desires

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A Poem that Desires: Changing the Secular/Sacred Conversation

“Let’s ignore for a moment the secular/sacred dichotomy and talk about how the writing of a poem is an act of desire, and that this desire is the same one that reaches out toward the other, the sacred, the little or big “g,” “God.” If this is the conversation we engage in, not only is there no need for the secular/sacred divide—it doesn’t even exist.”

Read more of my latest blog here

Saturday Poetry Series

Head on over to As It Ought To Be every Saturday morning for a new poem. Here’s a link to December 14, 2013, when my poem “We Dissolve Separately” was reprinted from Thrush poetry journal.

“Editor’s Note: If I had to sum up today’s poem in one word it would be “powerful.” With this piece Kristin George Bagdanov takes on the heavy and the deep; without fear, without apprehension. “Trust me,” she tells us bluntly, “you will / always be alone.” We can love, but “We will always be separate in time, / the distance between our bodies in bed / the distance between your death and mine.” From its biblical entry—as captivating as the origin story it evokes—to its repeated waves of brutal honesty, today’s entry is as well-wrought as the human body in all its striking, singular existence.”

Review of Sunday Rising

Patricia Clark’s fourth collection of poetry, Sunday Rising, alternates between these skyward and groundward gazes to show us where they meet, and how, in fact, they are the same wonder-filled and bewildered perspective, that light “enter[s] the river with the same / intensity of burning / we see in life at its peak, / or life with the flame / threatening to go out.”

Read more of my review of Patricia Clark’s 4th poetry collection at the Colorado Review. 

Ruminate 7×7 Art Auction

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As Fundraising Director for Ruminate Magazine, I’d like to invite you to view (and bid on!) the 45 pieces of 7×7 inch artwork in our Jubilee online art auction. The auction will close September 14, 2013 at 8pm, during the Jubilee Dinner celebration in Fort Collins.

I’ve spent this summer talking to amazing artists–many of whom are past Ruminate contributors–and would like nothing more than for you to also be stunned by their creations, which they made and donated just for this auction.

Contact me with any questions at kristin(at)ruminatemagazine(dot)com.

32 Poems

32Poems_Spring2013_Cover-1-388x60032 Poems is an excellent literary magazine that keeps the conversation going long after publication.

Read my explication of fellow contributor Michael Bazzett’s “Actaeon” here.

Read   Joanna Pearson ‘s explication of my poem “Persephone Willing” here.

Accidental Voyeur

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Where is the line between witness and voyeur? And as people of faith who are
often inundated with this call to “witness”—how can we know when
we’ve crossed the line into voyeurism?

Read about it in my most recent Ruminate post.