Lew Watts was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales. He lived and worked for many years in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa before moving to the United States in 2002. He is the author of the novel, Marcel Malone, and three poetry collections—his most recent, Eira, a collection of haibun and haiku, received a 2024 Touchstone Award. Lew is also the co-author, with Roberta Beary and Rich Youmans, of Haibun: A Writer’s Guide, and serves as the haibun co-editor of Frogpond, the journal of the Haiku Society of America. Beyond poetry, he is ex-chair of the World Bank’s external panel on climate change, and a past board member of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the home of the Doomsday Clock; he currently sits on various corporate and non-profit boards. He divides his time between Chicago and West Michigan with his wife, Roxanne, and his rascal-of-a-dog, Willis. His other passions are four granddaughters, fly fishing (anytime, anywhere), rugby, jazz guitar, tango music, and gin martinis.

Find Eira here:

https://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/books/eira.htm

As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. A Zoom link will be provided in the chat window during the show before that segment begins.

For links to all the past episodes, visit:

https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/

This Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem about a specific type of phobia you do not personally have but know of someone that does.

Next Week’s Prompt:

Write a poem that includes a prank and ends with a question.

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