Ellen White

I first heard the Marie de France’s story of the laüstic, the nightingale, in 1974. It’s haunted me ever since. I finally framed the end to my retelling of the story which I had started fifty years ago last year! You can read my take on laüstic at The Book Ends Review.

Lines+Stars: A Journal of Poetry andhttps://linesandstars.com/ Short Prose has published my poem “I wrap three stones in red” in the Fall/Winter 2023 red themed issue. The poem describes the Japanese practice of mourning those who do not live to breathe. Traditionally, a stone statue of Jizo, a bodhisattva associated with children (also travelers), is dressed in a red cap and bib. When a statue is not available, three stones can be used to create a small figure. It’s a powerful practice for mourning.

Suspended is released May 1st, available for preorder at Cathexis Northwest Press. Order today.

The poems in Suspended surprise and stretch the imagination, delve into edges and margins, mystery. In these in-between places Ellen White Rook seeks clarity that aligns with essential elements of being. Loss and hope intermingle - "the oracle leaves / footprints in water that turn to ice." Sadness is mitigated by creating: "we cannot help but make another story even in the infinity of absence." Humor is part of this whole. The poet wakes hearing an "unruly bird" in the night, only to discover the noise is - I'll let you find that out for yourself.- Katrinka Moore, author of Diminuendo

My poetry collection Suspended has been selected by Cathexis Northwest Press as winner of their Unpublished Author Contest. The collection will be published in 2023. The title poem was originally published at The Banyan Review. Read it here.

Postponed to Saturday, March 4 due to illness. Much of the world is celebrating the Water Rabbit Year this weekend; however, the tradition I follow won’t be celebrating the lunar new year until February. Join me for a half day generative writing retreat on Saturday, February 4, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM in Albany, New York.in which we’ll celebrate the end of the year of the Water Tiger. For more information and to register.

This month, five of my poems were published! “Suspended” and “On Waking” were published by The Banyan Review in their Winter 2022 issue.  Quibble published the whimsical “Could I live in a corduroy cornfield” in their issue themed “Simple. Little. Scribble.” RockPaperPoem published “Oh Brother.”

Inspired by Timothy Egan’s National Book Award story of the dust bowl The Worst Hard Time, my poem “Sparrows Fall” has been published in the Fall 2022 issue of Split Rock Review.

The prompt for Vermilion’s 10th Flash Issue was to write a piece that encapsulated someone’s entire life. “My grandmother was an orphan” includes many of the important events in the life of my paternal grandmother, Betty Agnes Leary White, but her warmth, generosity, and easy going attitude will have to be a subject for another poem. Sadly, I learned more about her following her death than during her life.

Since 2020, I’ve been a member of the Capital Region Poetry Workshop. On Saturday, September 17 at 2:00 PM, we will read from our works on the Orb Stage in Campus Center West at UAlbany as part of the New York State Writers Institute Book Festival. View event details.