Tag: Ellen Rowland

ONE ART’s May 2026 Reading

~ ONE ART ~ Leave a comment

ONE ART’s May 2026 Reading

Date: Sunday, May 3
Time: 2pm Eastern
Featured Poets: Phyllis Cole-Dai, Karly Randolph Pitman, Ellen Rowland
Duration: 1.5 hours

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

>> Register Here <<

~ About The Featured Readers ~

Phyllis Cole-Dai resides in Maryland. She’s the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including the popular Poetry of Presence volumes of mindfulness poems. She invites you to hop aboard The Raft, her online community.

Karly Randolph Pitman is a writer, teacher, poet, presenter, and mental health facilitator who helps people nurture a more compassionate relationship with their struggles. She’s the founder of Growing Humankindness, a gentle approach towards overeating, writes a reader supported poetry newsletter, O Nobly Born, and offers writing and mindfulness workshops to nurture self awareness and self compassion. She lives in Austin, Texas where she’s cared for the underbelly of long covid and autoimmune illness for the past five years. Her journeys through depression and illness continue to soften, teach and open her. In all she remains in awe of the human heart.

Ellen Rowland is a writer and editor who leads small, generative poetry workshops on craft and form. She is the author of two collections of haiku: Light, Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, and most recently The Echo of Silence/L’écho du Silence, a bi-lingual book of haiku and tanka. Her full-length poetry collection, No Small Thing, was published by Fernwood Press in 2023. You can find her writing in ONE ART, Sheila-Na-Gig, Braided Way, Humana Obscura, and several anthologies, including “The Path to Kindness” and “The Wonder of Small Things” edited by James Crews. Her chapbook of after poems, In Search of Lost Birds is forthcoming from Kelsay Books. She lives off the grid with her family on a small farm in Greece. Connect with her on Instagram , Facebook and Substack.

Ghazal workshop with Ellen Rowland

~ ONE ART ~ Leave a comment

Ghazal workshop with Ellen Rowland
Date: Tuesday, April 7
Time: 1-3pm Eastern
Duration: 2-hours
Cost: $25

Limited to 15 participants.

>> Register Here <<

Readings are recorded and shared with all who sign up.

~ About The Workshop ~

In this instructive and generative workshop, we’ll delve into the Arabic Ghazal, exploring its historical origins and cultural significance, as well the specific stanza structure and musical devices, including refrain, rhyme, and use of repetition. Through illustrative examples, we’ll learn the particular patterns and music of this ancient form to express cultural differences, celebrate love and beauty, or insist on an idea or theme.

The first hour of workshop will cover the history of the Ghazal and its influence on modern poetry with examples and detailed writing guidelines, followed by discussion.

The second hour will be dedicated to writing time to practice the form and optional sharing of our work.

In order to create an intimate environment that encourages discussion, sharing of ideas and writing, this workshop is limited to 15 participants.

All poetry levels welcome.

~ About The Workshop Leader ~

Ellen Rowland is a writer and editor who leads small, generative poetry workshops on craft and form. She is the author of two collections of haiku: Light, Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, and most recently The Echo of Silence/L’écho du Silence, a bi-lingual book of haiku and tanka. Her full-length poetry collection, No Small Thing, was published by Fernwood Press in 2023. You can find her writing in One Art Poetry, Sheila-Na-Gig, Braided Way, Humana Obscura, and several anthologies, including “The Path to Kindness” and “The Wonder of Small Things” edited by James Crews. Her chapbook of after poems, In Search of Lost Birds is forthcoming from Kelsay Books. She lives off the grid with her family on a small farm in Greece. Connect with her on Instagram , Facebook and Substack.

Grief Comes on a Friday at 4 p.m. by Ellen Rowland

~ ONE ART ~ 3 Comments

Grief Comes on a Friday at 4 p.m.

A craving for your spinach and mushroom crepes.
The plastic recipe box. Colored tabs for appetizers,
main dishes, desserts. Your left-handed back slant,
smudged ink, a greasy fingerprint—
all landing like a gasping hammer. Where have you been?
I don’t think I ever buried you. You bloomed in me
right there at the kitchen counter on a Friday at 4 p.m.
The missing wail so deep and gaping, a childhood slipped
from those protective sleeves. A kinder birth, a difference.
A truth about keeping—you never did, and I never will,
make all the good things.

*

Ellen Rowland is a writer and editor who leads small poetry workshops on craft and form. She is the author of three collections of haiku: The Echo of Silence, Light Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, as well as the book Everything I Thought I Knew, essays on living, learning and parenting unconventionally. Her latest poetry collection, No Small Thing, was published by Fernwood Press in 2023. You can find her writing in ONE ART, Braided Way, Rock.Paper.Poem and Silver Birch Press, among others. She lives off the grid with her family on an island in Greece. Connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

Ekphrastic Poetry: A Meeting of Art and Words — A Workshop with Ellen Rowland

~ ONE ART ~ 9 Comments

Ekphrastic Poetry: A Meeting of Art and Words

Instructor: Ellen Rowland

Wednesday, November 6, 10:00am (Eastern)

Length: 2 hours 

Price: $25 (payment options)

Note: Participants capped at 15 for this workshop.

Workshop Description:       

Ekphrastic poetry is a written response to a work of art— a painting, drawing, photograph, sculpture or other type of rendering. Since the age of Homer, poets have devised various ways to interact with art, including analyzing the work, exploring symbolic meanings, inventing stories, or even creating dialog and dramatic scenes. The artwork often leads the poet to new insights and surprising discoveries. 

In the first half of this two-hour workshop, we’ll go over the history of Ekphrastic poetry, discuss different approaches to and examples of ekphrastic works. Then, we’ll use our dedicated writing time to create a draft poem inspired by one of three different images provided.

Attendees are invited and encouraged to engage, discuss and share their poems with the group, although this is not mandatory. This workshop is limited to 15 participants so that everyone has a chance to share their work in a safe and intimate space.

Limited to 15 participants

About The Workshop Leader:

Ellen Rowland is a writer and editor who leads small, generative poetry workshops on craft and form. She is the author of two collections of haiku, Light, Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, as well as the book Everything I Thought I Knew, essays on living, learning and parenting outside the status quo. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and in several anthologies, most recently The Wonder of Small Things, edited by James Crews and Facing Goodbye by The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press.Her debut collection of full-length poems, No Small Thing, was published by Fernwood Press in 2023. Her poem within, “When the World Was Whole,” was nominated for Best of Net by Braided Way Magazine. She lives off the grid with her family on an island in Greece. Connect with her on Instagram and Facebook

The Music of the Line: Rhythm, Rhyme and Repetition in Poetry — A Workshop with Ellen Rowland

~ ONE ART ~ Leave a comment

The Music of the Line: Rhythm, Rhyme and Repetition in Poetry

Hosted by: Ellen Rowland
Day: Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Time: 11:00AM-1:00PM (Eastern)
Price: $25 (payment options)

To register: email Mark Danowsky at oneartpoetry@gmail.com 

Overview

Understanding and practicing the structure of formal poetry can often inform our free verse poems in beautiful and surprising ways. In this intimate, generative workshop, we’ll explore how the use of poetic devices relying on “the three Rs” can help us become better listeners when we read poetry and write our own. Through specific examples, we’ll learn to tune in to the music of the lines we create and the patterns and melodies of our word choices, while maintaining freedom of theme, expression and poetic voice. The second hour will be dedicated to discussion, prompt-based writing and optional sharing of our poems.

Limited to 15 participants

About The Workshop Leader

Ellen Rowland is a writer and editor who leads small, generative poetry workshops on craft and form. She is the author of two collections of haiku, Light, Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, as well as the book Everything I Thought I Knew, essays on living, learning and parenting outside the status quo. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and in several anthologies, most recently The Wonder of Small Things, edited by James Crews and Facing Goodbye by The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. Her debut collection of full-length poems, No Small Thing, was published by Fernwood Press in 2023. Her poem within, “When the World Was Whole,” was nominated for Best of Net by Braided Way Magazine. She lives off the grid with her family on an island in Greece. Connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

Two Poems by Ellen Rowland

~ ONE ART ~ 5 Comments

Brothers

My uncle dies in his favorite armchair
while watching football, having just eaten
dinner, a martini in hand. His alma mater
scores a goal and he hoots as though he himself
has carried the ball across the finish line,
winning the game for his team. He slips away then
like the ice from his sweating glass
onto the avocado carpet, a sheen of utter
content on his face. My father battles lung cancer
for five slow years, taking so much longer to
reach the end, a pain crawl really, his bone-deep pride
brittle on the field. No shoulder pads or heroic knees,
knocked around mercilessly, he is unwilling
to relinquish the fight. Their friends applaud
and mourn them equally, flock like fans
to their lilied caskets, then file their way out
into blessed sunlight, fingering the ticket stubs
in their pockets.


* 

Origami

Is it strange that I don’t have a bucket list,
that all I want already fits in my life? And
what if I told you that I look forward to the
crossword after lunch, smoked Lapsang Souchong
at 4:30? That I cherish the sound of the dog’s
leash as it comes off its hook, the ecstatic leaps
she makes when that jangle tricks her arthritic
bones into believing she is agile and ageless
for half an hour a day? Would you think me
boring if I claim more than small satisfaction
at the pleasure of opening that great book
next to that great man I’ve shared a bed with
for 23 years? Japan calls, of course it does.
A singular want that fits in a cup: the haiku of
its vermillion Torii gates and blossomed benches,
the quiet bathing trees. The golden trails of
kintsugi cracks and blood-red lanterns, swaying.
The idea is wonderful, yes. But so is the now
of thick salty feta on a slice of toasted sourdough
eaten at the counter off of paper plates. So is
stepping outside in his flannel shirt to hear
a pair of koukouvagia preening each other under
a salt spill of stars, the constant creek running
to where? and where? and where? until the cold
and dark remind me the covers are still thrown back,
each fold waiting to be shaped again into something beautiful.

*

Ellen Rowland is the author of two collections of haiku/senryu, Light, Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, as well as the book Everything I Thought I Knew, essays on living, learning and parenting outside the status quo. Her writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and in several poetry anthologies, most recently The Wonder of Small Things, edited by James Crews. Her debut collection of full-length poems, No Small Thing, was published by Fernwood Press in 2023. She lives off the grid with her family on an island in Greece. Connect with her on Instagram and Facebook

Two Poems by Ellen Rowland

~ ONE ART ~ 1 Comment

Cake

A stupid argument and I take it out
on the eggshells, seize them
in the palm of my hand and crush,
tearing the delicate inner lining.
Take it out on the baking chocolate
still in its wrapper. The recipe calls
for finely chopped but I slam the bar instead
again and again against the edge
of the counter. Crush the beaters into
the side of the bowl and whip, whip
a well of furious flour. Rip the baking paper
across the metal teeth edge and begin
the slow rise of regret, begin to fear
the cake will be infused with my ire–
yolks curdled, sugar grained, butter gone bad.
Like the daggered ice crystals that form when
still in water state, are told they are ugly and hated,
worthless and unloved, I worry I have sullied
the crumb, bittered the icing, muddied each layer.
So, before I take the first bite, I say, I’m sorry.
Forgive me. I love you. Both our mouths are full.
It is so, so good.

*

Endangered Pleasure
(after James Crews)

Add this to my list of small ecstasies:
the way honey creams together
with butter on freshly baked bread,
the innocence of its warm alchemy
as churn, as rise, as breaking down
of simple sugar. I swear, I can taste
the tantra of the hive, the tending to
of queen by drone, the dripping cone,
workers’ legs impossibly laden with
thick pollen, deposited and darned.
This, from the buttercups and purslanes
most would have condemned to the curb
as bothersome weed. This from the common
dandelions we left to riot just for the bees.
An entire patch of golden suns now radiating
as endangered pleasure on my tongue.

*

Ellen Rowland is the author of two collections of haiku/senryu, Light, Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, as well as the book Everything I Thought I Knew, essays on living, learning and parenting outside the status quo. Her writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and in several poetry anthologies, most recently The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and Hope is a Group Project. Her debut collection of full-length poems, No Small Thing, is forthcoming from Fernwood Press in 2023. She lives off the grid with her family on an island in Greece. Connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

Trip by Ellen Rowland

~ ONE ART ~ Leave a comment

Trip

A stupid fall, you will say.
Nothing daring or graceful, just a trip
on something insignificant and small while having
successfully avoided the lip of a flat stone
or a protruding root on this same
path for months now. You will scan
your body, noticing where the heat rises
to throb grated skin, swelling shin,
throbbing elbow. You will blow
dirt and grit from the palms of
the hands that braced you, the cool air
of your breath soothing the sting.

You will not hop back up as you once could
but sit or lay with your vulnerability,
this further proof of impermanence
and give thanks, deep gratitude
as you circle wrists, ankles, neck,
that most of you is still in good working order.

On the way home, you will conjure
the names of each bone and tendon spared
with no understanding of when or how
you acquired the knowledge.

*

Ellen Rowland is the author of two collections of haiku/senryu, Light, Come Gather Me and Blue Seasons, as well as the book Everything I Thought I Knew, essays on living, learning and parenting outside the status quo. Her writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and in several poetry anthologies, most recently The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy edited by James Crews. Her debut collection of full-length poems is forthcoming from Fernwood Press in spring, 2023. She lives off the grid with her family on an island in Greece.