Marly Youmans's Blog

Confetti, champagne, and singing petunias--

Video of the presentation...Pleased to have won two of the four prizes in this rare international contest for formal poetry--and also tickled that Jesse won the big one. Winning poems can be read here. The full shortlist, which names two of my poems, can be found here. Many thanks to the English-Speaking Union (Victoria Branch), ESU President Robert Furlan, judging poet Stephen Edgar, and Lucas

Whee! A book landing on the list...

CURRENT's 100 Books of the 21st CenturyRead the intro and run your peepers down to no. 29!

Birthday frolics

Signing books on the Village Library of Cooperstown lawn, 1-3 pm on Sunday, June 2. Including the newest books from Wiseblood Books and Ignatius Press.

Kingdom Poets, Clive, Seren, Charis, more...

Here's a sprinkling of recent poems and notices. I've become bad about adding things here because blogs are in abeyance, but these are a few things that have popped up recently.A glad thank you is due to D. S. Martin for a column in Kingdom Poets. He talks about and quotes from Seren of the Wildwood (Wiseblood Books, 2023) and then features my poem, "The Hand" (previous published in Artemis;

Next reading and Hollins Critic review clip

The Village Library reading: 6 p.m., Tuesday April 25thFrom The Hollins Critic reviewSeren of the Wildwood is a magical book, a visionary journey through motherhood and the rebellious, unwieldy life-force of the universe. It includes equally magical cover art and interior illustrations by Clive Hicks-Jenkins, who frequently illustrates Youmans's books. The publisher's web page says that "

More review clips for Seren of the Wildwood

Art by Clive Hicks-JenkinsSETH WRIGHT at FRONT PORCH REPUBLICYoumans’ gift for creating primordial archetypal images that stir the gut and fascinate the eye of the mind places her among the best of the poets. If you’re a connoisseur, even a lapsed or dilatory one, of narrative poetry, buy Seren of the Wildwood and read it today...What is particularly impressive about Youmans’ weaving is her

Two novelists on Seren

Beth Garst of Howl'n Dog Designsreads Seren on a Virginia porch swing...I was given a review copy of Seren and couldn’t put it down. It’s lyrical and magical and offers a glimpse of the places usually seen only from the corner of the eye. --novelist Amanda Cockrell(Amanda Cockrell assigned a review for The Hollins Critic: out soon!)* * *...The reader is struck by two things almost immediately.

A writer and an artist respond to Seren

Seren, by Clive Hicks-Jenkinsfrom Seren of the Wildwood(Wiseblood Books, 2023, hc/pb)ANDREW FRISARDIMarly Youmans’s verse-narrative Seren of the Wildwood is a bildungsroman or coming-of-age tale about a young girl named Seren, told in the archetypal-dream language of a fairy tale. Seren experiences the universal realities of the loss of innocence through trauma and betrayal, of the self

Seren of the Wildwood March readings--

Saturday, March 18  3:00Reading with Sally ThomasCity Lights Bookstore 3 East Jackson St.Sylva, North Carolina828-586-9499Thursday, March 23 7:00 p.m.Reading with Sally ThomasGoldberry Books12 Union St. SouthConcord, North Carolina(980) 439-5050Friday, March 10Launch Party near D. C.The Washington Review: "Charles and Tessa Carman will host novelist and poet Marly Youmans [“the best-kept secret

Launch Day, March 6

Seren at the home of poet and writerDavid Russell Mosley(Wiseblood Books)Launch Day review from poet/translator/writer Jonathan Geltner at the Slant Books blog. Wiseblood Books notes that it "situates the poem within the world of fantasy & showcases a few beautiful excerpts." To read, fly HERE.I'm celebrating having survived Covid and reached Launch Day with some ginger tea... sitting here under