Of Poetry is hosted by Han VanderHart, author of Larks (Ohio UP, 2025).
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Purchase: Water Castle by Natalie Solmer (Kelsay Books, 2024)

Read: "I Am a Great Lake" (MER)

Natalie Solmer was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, a granddaughter of Polish and German immigrants. She worked in the field of horticulture for many years, including 13 years as a grocery store florist, before becoming a professor of English and creative writing. She teaches at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis and is the founder and editor in chief of Indianapolis Review. Her work has been published in journals such as North American Review, Notre Dame Review, Pleiades, Mom Egg Review, and Tab Poetry Journal. Her debut book of poems, Water Castle, was published by Kelsay Books in the fall of 2024. You can find her poems, visual poetry, and visual art at http://www.nataliesolmer.com

Reading Recommendations:

The Indianapolis Review

Diane Seuss, Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl (Graywolf, 2018)

"Song in my Heart" by Diane Seuss

Gustav Klimt

Frida Kahlo

"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin

Joyelle McSweeney, Death Styles (Nightboat Books, 2024)