EIF Poetry Challenge #16: Nature Poetry

Nature plays an important role in the history of English poetry, from the time of Chaucer right up to the present day. Consider the opening lines of The Canterbury Tales: Whan that Aprill with his shoures sooteThe droghte of March hath perced to the roote,And bathed every veyne in swich licourOf which vertu engendred is... Continue Reading →

EIF Poetry Challenge #15: Ekphrastic

This week's challenge is an Ekphrastic challenge, in other words, writing a poem in response to a work of art. This week's judge and three-time EIF Poetry Challenge winner, Nick Reeves, has provided the artwork featured in today's post, which will be your prompt. Ekphrastic Poetry The word 'ekphrastic' comes from the Ancient Greek ἐκφράζειν (ekphrázein) ,... Continue Reading →

EIF Tanka Challenge: The Results

The tanka form proved both enticing and challenging, no less for me (for examples, take a look at my Twitter Poetry from Week 3) than for those who took part. As a short form it may appear deceptively simple. Bearing this in mind, I was impressed with the high standard of entries. I now hand... Continue Reading →

EIF Poetry Challenge #14: Tanka

As we have already explored the haiku form in a previous poetry challenge, this week I wanted to take a look at another Japanese form: tanka. If you thought a tanka was simply an extended haiku, think again! There is a lot more to the form than this. Read on to find out more... The... Continue Reading →

EIF Poetry Challenge #13: Villanelle

Happy New Year, poetry lovers! I'm excited to begin a whole new year of poetry challenges by examining a lyrical, dance-like poetic form: the villanelle. The form originated in France, though its name derives from the Italian villanella meaning 'a rustic/peasant song or dance.' It was originally a ballad-like pastoral poem with no fixed form,... Continue Reading →

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