Aaron and James talk about Poetry Firsts -- first workshops, first journal publications, first poems by which we were awestruck. 

Writers discussed include:
John Ashbery
Lucille Clifton
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Louise Glück
Barbara Hamby
Irene McKinney
Paul Monette
Maureen Seaton
Gerald Stern
Alice Walker 

Journals we discuss include:
Bellingham Review
Ploughshares
The James White Review

You can read Aaron Smith's poem "Fat Ass" here.

According to the foundation named after her, "Helen Steiner Rice . . . is often referred to as the 'poet laureate of inspirational verse.'"

Please consider supporting the authors mentioned during today's episode of Breaking Form--and please think about buying from independent bookstores. If you need a good one, we recommend Loyalty Books, a black-owned bookstore in Washington, DC that ships everywhere.