For poet and fiction writer B. Elizabeth Beck, "making sure that you are actively engaged in a community is... the salvation to your sanity and to your work."

On this episode, Elizabeth discusses her participation in writing and music communities. She founded Teen Howl and Poetry at the/ˈtā-bəl/, two Lexington-based reading series where poets of all ages support each other's writing. 

Elizabeth has also discovered community with fellow fans of the Grateful Dead and Phish, and these experiences, as well as her love of visual art, often inspire her writing. 

Learn how to engage with art and music in your own writing with help from Elizabeth's favorite prompt.

About B. Elizabeth Beck

lizabeth Beck is a poet who writes fiction. Dancing on the Page (Rabbit House Press, 2024) is her fifth poetry collection. Accents Publishing will publish Swan Songs, her debut collection of short stories, in 2025.

Mama Tried (Broadstone Books) won the American Book Fest Prize for Poetry. She was a finalist in the Kentucky State Poetry Society Grand Prix Prize and has been nominated several times for the Pushcart Prize. 

Elizabeth is a recipient of The Kentucky Foundation for Women grant.

Her work appears in journals and anthologies, including Poetica Magazine, Appalachian Review, Limestone Blue, and Harvard Education Press. 

Elizabeth founded two poetry series, Teen Howl, and Poetry at the/ˈtā-bəl/ in Lexington, Kentucky.