MOST RECENT OPA NEWS
NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR OPA’S PATRICIA RUTH BANTA AWARD
Read all of this item.Do you know of an individual or group who deserves recognition for their contributions to the culture of poetry in Oregon? Consider nominating them for OPA’s Patricia Ruth Banta Award, which honors an individual or group that has made a significant contribution to Oregon poetry and to OPA’s mission. Download the nomination form below: print, complete, and mail to:
Oregon Poetry Association
PO Box 14582 Portland OR 97293OPA seeks to build and sustain a diverse community of Oregon poets, provide Oregon poets opportunities to exchange ideas and learn from one another, further the appreciation of poetry throughout the state, and raise public awareness of Oregon poets. Nominees may have contributed in any of these ways. Nominations are due by July 31. The award will be announced in the fall.
The Barbie Diaries by Dale Champlin
Just a Lark Books (November 17, 2019), 65 pp $14
ISBN #: 978-1708450267
Available at: dale@champlindesign.com
Is it possible to say anything new about Barbie? Since her introduction in 1959, the PVC fashionista has been reviled and revered, loved and loathed. Her literary footprint includes adoring preteen blogs, scathing doctoral theses, and an authorized biography from Random House.
Still, I’d be willing to bet that Oregon poet Dale Champlin is almost alone in considering Barbie a fit hero for epic poetry. In her 2019 book, The Barbie Diaries, Champlin presents a sequence of 57 poems that portray the inner life of a Barbie doll who is both typical of ...
MOST RECENT POET’S SPOTLIGHT
2020 Spring Contest Winners: Poet’s Choice: 1st Place Winner
June 3, 2020Baby, It’s Cold Outside
(a Vivianne sonnet variation)
As embryos we each explore the wall
of womb that holds us. It’s the first place joy
is felt—mom’s heartbeat like a lullaby.
Cocooned in touch, that’s how we interact.
We’re chastised just as soon as we can crawl
or walk. Just look! Hands off! That’s not a toy.
We’re told to view, to listen, smell that, try
a taste of this—but touch … and hands are smacked.
And so begins our isolation. All
those inhibitions finally destroy
instinctive comfort found in touch, deny
the core of who we are. Our lives contract.