Sharing Good News: Poet Stella Nesanovich and “Everyday Grace”

Stella Nesanovich‘s work has been an inspiration to me for some years, and I was thrilled when she agreed to provide a blurb for Cloud Song earlier this year.

Today, I want to share with you some of the well deserved accolades she is receiving for her poem, “Everyday Grace,” first published in 2016 in Third Wednesday, (and later as their poem of the week), as well as on the websites of the Poetry Foundation, and  Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry.

“Everyday Grace” reminds the reader of what each of us knows in our own particular way: that there is opportunity for a deepening awareness of meaning in each seemingly mundane moment.

Stella Nesanovich , a lifelong Louisianan and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, was born in New Orleans, won degrees from Louisiana State University, and taught English for many years at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. Stella’s body of work is inspiring to me. At once contemplative and vigorously rendered, her poems explore those intersections of daily life, observation and reflection, and deepening understanding while always delivering pleasure of sound and sense coming together in a fresh way. I feel very lucky to know her work and to count her among my treasured “friends of the work.”

LESLIE

Franciscan University of Steubenville Press

Xavier Review Press, 2004

Yellow Flag Press, 2014

Yellow Flag Press, 2015

News Flash! THIRD WEDNESDAY Has Published My Poem, “The Cannon City Creamery”!

Red Letter

Wings and Windows Envelope Back

You’ve heard of Red Letter Days? Around Christmas, I received something extra-special in the mail: my contributor’s copy to the Fall/Winter version of Third Wednesdayan excellent journal that combines poetry, fiction, photography, and essays on craft and life. There was also a small check, a rare event in the life of a working poet, and a testament to the serious way the editorial staff regards the work they review. I am enjoying the introduction to the work of other poets, writers, and artists, and I am really happy to have a poem of mine in such fine company.

In addition to publishing the journal, Third Wednesday, holds an annual poetry contest. The deadline is in the last week of January each year; three winners will receive not only publication but also a prize of $50. You can send up to three poems (none to exceed two pages) and a $10 contest reading fee to be considered for the prize (address below).

Do you have some work you’ve been planning to send out? Consider Third Wednesday. You can be sure that your words will be read with respect by experienced editors who are themselves writers.

Third Wednesday Cover

Third Wednesday Back Cover INSERT

Wishing good news to each of you, Leslie