Faith Paulsen
Faith Paulsen writes poetry from her desk at an insurance agency near Philadelphia. Her work appears in Scientific American, Blue Heron, Mania Magazine, Poetica Review, Philadelphia Stories, Book of Matches, One Art, Panoply, Thimble Literary Magazine, and chapbooks Cyanomoeter (Finishing Line Press) and We Marry We Bury We Sing or We Weep (Moonstone Press).
Artist's Statement
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I had no idea how lucky I was to take a course with Denise Levertov when I was only in high school. She taught me to value well-crafted work that brings me to that “ah!” moment when all the aspects (language, rhythm, syntax, image, etc) become song.
My love of poetry began with music, with Psalms and Song of Solomon. Later, Milton and George Herbert, Eliot, Williams, Rumi and Stevens, Levertov, Jane Kenyan, Jane Hirshfield, Li-Young Lee, Marie Howe, Ocean Vuong, Ellen Bass and Ilya Kaminsky. I could go on and on.
I like words that surprise. I like to write from the wilderness. I enjoy words and ideas from science, philosophy, art, and universal themes such as family, grief and love. I like rich and unpredictable language, details at once conversational and strange, elliptical endings.
Beloved teachers and role models include Denise Levertov, Janice Thaddeus, Rachel Simon, Sandy Crimmins, Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno, Leonard Gontarek, Amy Small-McKinney, Grant Clauser, Jan Freeman, Michael Afaa Weaver, Dilruba Ahmed, J.C. Todd, and so many more I’d better just stop there.
Artist's Statement
​
​
I had no idea how lucky I was to take a course with Denise Levertov when I was only in high school. She taught me to value well-crafted work that brings me to that “ah!” moment when all the aspects (language, rhythm, syntax, image, etc) become song.
My love of poetry began with music, with Psalms and Song of Solomon. Later, Milton and George Herbert, Eliot, Williams, Rumi and Stevens, Levertov, Jane Kenyan, Jane Hirshfield, Li-Young Lee, Marie Howe, Ocean Vuong, Ellen Bass and Ilya Kaminsky. I could go on and on.
I like words that surprise. I like to write from the wilderness. I enjoy words and ideas from science, philosophy, art, and universal themes such as family, grief and love. I like rich and unpredictable language, details at once conversational and strange, elliptical endings.
Beloved teachers and role models include Denise Levertov, Janice Thaddeus, Rachel Simon, Sandy Crimmins, Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno, Leonard Gontarek, Amy Small-McKinney, Grant Clauser, Jan Freeman, Michael Afaa Weaver, Dilruba Ahmed, J.C. Todd, and so many more I’d better just stop there.
Artist's Statement
​
​
I had no idea how lucky I was to take a course with Denise Levertov when I was only in high school. She taught me to value well-crafted work that brings me to that “ah!” moment when all the aspects (language, rhythm, syntax, image, etc) become song.
My love of poetry began with music, with Psalms and Song of Solomon. Later, Milton and George Herbert, Eliot, Williams, Rumi and Stevens, Levertov, Jane Kenyan, Jane Hirshfield, Li-Young Lee, Marie Howe, Ocean Vuong, Ellen Bass and Ilya Kaminsky. I could go on and on.
I like words that surprise. I like to write from the wilderness. I enjoy words and ideas from science, philosophy, art, and universal themes such as family, grief and love. I like rich and unpredictable language, details at once conversational and strange, elliptical endings.
Beloved teachers and role models include Denise Levertov, Janice Thaddeus, Rachel Simon, Sandy Crimmins, Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno, Leonard Gontarek, Amy Small-McKinney, Grant Clauser, Jan Freeman, Michael Afaa Weaver, Dilruba Ahmed, J.C. Todd, and so many more I’d better just stop there.
