The Suitcase Poem

a collaborative long poem

Image description: a red suitcase lying on a the ground with leaves and sidewalk all around. Text: Marie-Andrée Auclair, Gregory Betts, Jeff Blackman, Ellen Chang-Richardson, AJ Dolman, Amanda Earl, Doris Fiszer, Gwendolyn Guth, Jenna Jarvis, Chris “Stop” Johnson, Tanis MacDonald, Roz Toner, MW (Matthew Walsh).

Now available from above/ground press: the suitcase poem,

a long poem composed by 13 poets and curated by me!

Last year in the spring, I had the idea that a poem can be like a suitcase in that it can serve as a container for all kinds of stuff. It came from thoughts surrounding Ursula K. Le Guin’s essay, The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, which I learned about when listening to the Crafting with Ursula conversations on

David Naimon

’s wonderful literary podcast, Between the Covers, especially the convo w/ Lidia Yuknavitch.

Thank you to all the contributors who took part. I really enjoy working collaboratively with other writers! We learn from each other and we inspire each other and we create works of community and whimsy. That’s always my goal.

You can purchase copies from above/ground press or from me directly. I will bring them to forthcoming open mics.