The Poetry Box

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The Poetry Box

The Poetry Box is a boutique press specializing in poetry books and chapbooks. Annual chapbook contest each February.

Home of the annual journal: The Poeming Pigeon. The Poetry Box® was founded in 2011 by Shawn Aveningo & Robert R. Sanders, who whole-heartedly believe that every day spent with the people you love, doing what you love, is a moment in life worth celebrating. It all started out as a way to help people memorialize the special milestones in their lives by melding custom poems with photographic artwor

k. Robert and Shawn expanded on their shared passion for creating poetry and art with the introduction of The Poetry Box® press. Their flagship journal, The Poeming Pigeon — A Literary Journal of Poetry, evolved from the first issue (Poeming Pigeons: Poems about Birds) Each annual issue will have a unique theme, with Homer, The Poeming Pigeon mascot, taking flight to deliver poems to poetry lovers across the globe. Details and submission guidelines can be found at www.ThePoemingPigeon.com. As Robert and Shawn continue to celebrate the talents of their fellow artisans and writers, they also offer professional book design and publishing services to poets looking to publish their collections of poems. We offer traditional publishing through our "select" program for established poets and also a cooperative publishing model for emerging & established poets alike. All of the books we publish are available on our website bookstore (thepoetrybox.com), popular online retailers such as bookshop.org, Indiebound.org, Amazon & B&N, and also through Ingram wholesale distribution.

16/11/2024

Just us….

07/11/2024

You're Invited! The Poeming Pigeon Launch (Zoom)--Sat, Nov 9 - https://mailchi.mp/thepoetrybox/reminder-tpp-14-launch

27/10/2024

10/10/2024

Friendly Reminder for Saturday's Show (Oct 12) - https://mailchi.mp/thepoetrybox/friendly-reminder-for-saturdays-show-oct-12

03/10/2024

11 DAYS LEFT to preorder!⁠
LAMPLIGHT by Cathy Cain⁠
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More Details HERE:⁠
https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/lamplight⁠

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“Lamplight is both opening and closing. Like any journey-woman on a quest to understand grief, Cathy Cain finds not truth so much as renewal. These poems are like compact, inescapable dreams, bruised with switchbacks that ‘shift / over the edge,’ where misery becomes a glow, a shine, and, finally, a blaze of love.”⁠
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—David Biespiel, author of Republic Café⁠
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“Cathy Cain’s Lamplight explores what lights the darkest nights and how dark those nights can be. She writes to “wear down in poem the pointed pain.” We find sparkling songs and savage blues, lamplight and dark. Her poems come home to gratitude in a morning walk, the smell of forgiveness in clean laundry. She invites the sky in at dawn.” ⁠
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—Tricia Knoll, author of Wild Apples ⁠
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02/10/2024

You can read our October Newsletter Here: - https://mailchi.mp/thepoetrybox/newsletter-oct-2024

01/10/2024

What an absolutely beautifully written review by Pam Anderson for The Squannacook at Dawn by Richard Jordan. Thank you Tinderbox Poetry Journal for spreading the word about so many great poetry chapbooks.
You can read the review and find a link to buy Richard's book here:

25/09/2024

Sharing a poem that was published today on New Verse News, inspired by an article I read in the New York Times last week. Click below to read the poem. Hope you enjoy it.

(The link to the news article is under the poem at the link below)

The New Verse News presents politically progressive poetry on current events and topical issues.

23/09/2024

Thrilled to have a poem in the Fall 2024 Issue of Sheila-Na-Gig online , along with such wonderful poets, including: Joe Cottonwood, Juan Pablo Mobili, Tobi Alfier, Laura Foley, Betsy Mars, and many, many more!

https://sheilanagigblog.com/poetry-archives/volumes-9-1-9-4-fall-2024-summer-2025/the-poets-volume-9-1-fall2024/shawn-aveningo-sanders/

"Let Nightfall Come at Last"
~after Jane Kenyon

Let dusk of early evening peek
through slats of window blinds.
Watch lavender light
zebra the walls. Let
nightfall come at last.

Let an old woman sit for a spell
with feet propped-up to rest.
Soft winds cradle
the snow to sleep. Let
nightfall come at last.

Let dirty dishes soak in the sink
to share tales of once-ago meals.
Soap loosens tongues
of gossipy spoons. Let
nightfall come at last.

There’s a basket of laundered linens
that will surely wait ‘til morn—
the cat content
asleep in the heap. Let
nightfall come at last.

On her lap lay a book inverted
like a ritual bedtime prayer.
Her lids fall fast
over tired eyes. Let
nightfall come at last.

Let her memories waltz on the ceiling
and dreams take a stroll about.
She’ll reach for his hand—
familiar touch—
when nightfall comes at last.

Shawn Aveningo-Sanders’ poetry has appeared worldwide in journals, zines and anthologies, published in Australia, Croatia, England, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the U.S.She is th…

07/09/2024

Thank you Cati Porter and team, for including my poem, "A Day in the Life of a Soccer Mom" in the new HAPPY issue of Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry. I wrote this poem last year for my daughters (all grown up now) during one of James Crews workshops, inspired by a poem by Donna Hilbert. If you ever need cheering up, this issue is filled with "feel good" poems.

02/09/2024

https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/white-sail

White Sail at Midnight, poetry by Ginny Lowe Connors is now available to pre-order at a discount thru Oct 15, 2024.

31/08/2024

Read The Poetry Box September Newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/thepoetrybox/september-news-from-the-poetry-box-hrtkweroal

10/08/2024

FIELD NOTES FROM AN ILLUSION by LOIS LEVINSON⁠
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Available NOW to preorder!⁠
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“Her studious-but-playful gaze falls on what she loves and lights it up: mule deer antlers are moon-silvered; a coyote’s well fed and swaggering like a senator; and bluebird eggs seem insubstantial as rings of blue smoke suspended in air. But Levinson understands that we are finally as insubstantial as what we study; her melancholy negotiations with the fact of limit lends her seeing a poignant urgency.”⁠
—MARK DOTY, National Book Award winner ⁠
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⁠More Details HERE:⁠
https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/field-notes⁠

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[COVER DESIGN by Shawn Aveningo Sanders, artwork by Michael Charney]

09/08/2024

SEARCHING FOR HOME by ELIZABETH MATEER⁠
Available now to preorder!⁠
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More Details HERE:⁠
https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/searching⁠

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Searching for Home is an evocative poetry collection that explores love, loss, and the search for belonging. From tiny New York apartments to intimate moments in the desert, this collection captures the essence of human connection and celebrates the unyielding strength found in moments of vulnerability.⁠
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Early Praise:⁠
"Searching for Home is a portal that transports readers into Elizabeth’s world, enabling them to feel the emotions she experienced in the moments she describes. Her words not only evoke her own feelings, but also resonate with other’s experiences. Through her writing, I am able to share in and feel her moments of beauty and in her moments of despair. She masterfully captures a broad spectrum of human experiences and emotions. “Two Faces and “Attachment Wounds” particularly resonate deeply with me. Take the journey with Elizabeth city to city, country to country, across her visceral experiences that we can all relate to. You’ll laugh, your breath will catch, and you’ll be taken back to a cherished memory of your own"⁠
—Lynn Greathouse, author of Swerve⁠
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[COVER DESIGN by Shawn Aveningo Sanders]

08/08/2024

The FINAL issue of The Poeming Pigeon ( #14) includes poetry and artwork by 76 poets/artists from around the globe.

PRE-ORDER your copy today and save 25% off the cover price!
More details:
https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/tpp-14

Cover Design by Robert R. Sanders, featuring the drawing “Vacant” by artist Zoe Huot-Link of Shoreview, Minnesota.

Contributing Artists:
Amit, Jan Baross, Kateryna Bortsova, Dale Champlin, Margaret Chula, Gerburg Garmann, Tim Gillespie, Zoe Huot-Link, Abigail Ella Johnson, Michelle Kogan, Robb Kunz, Christopher Luna, Jone Rush MacCulloch, Janet Manalo, Veronica Michalowski, Donald Patten, Jennifer Pratt-Walter, Robert R. Sanders, Willa Schneberg, Marilyn Stablein, Jennifer Weigel, Elaine Franz Witten

Contributing Poets:
Deborah Akers, Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet, Shawn Aveningo Sanders, Lana Hechtman Ayers, Rachel Barton, Ruth Bavetta, David Belmont, Suzanne Bruce, B. J. Buckley, Cathy Cain, Dale Champlin, Margaret Chula, Kris Demien, Amelia Díaz Ettinger, Sandra Dipasqua, Sara Eddy, Ann Farley, Linda Ferguson, Holly Fine, Nancy Flynn, Tim Gillespie, Karen Gookin, Keri Hakan, Suzy Harris, Mary Beth Hines, Ann Howells, Marilyn Johnston, J.I. Kleinberg, Tricia Knoll, Kim Peter Kovac, Jim Kraus, Susan Landgraf, Eric le Fatte, Sherri Levine, Dan Liberthson, Adria Libolt, Sue Fagalde Lick, Cynthia Linville , Betsy Mars, Carolyn Martin, M. F. McAuliffe, Jade Rosina McCutcheon, Karla Linn Merrifield, Judith H. Montgomery, Marjorie Moorhead, Cristina M. R. Norcross, Dayle Olson, Francis Opila, Gus Peterson, Jennifer Pratt-Walter, Lisa Rhoades, JoAnna Scandiffio, Willa Schneberg, Penelope Scambly Schott, Leah Stenson, Doug Stone, Stephanie Striffler, Climbing Sun, Julene Tripp Weaver

07/08/2024

EIGHT DAYS LEFT⁠
to pre-order LIFE IN NO ORDINARY TIME by Laurel Feigenbaum⁠
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More Info and Order HERE:⁠
https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/no-ordinary-time⁠

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While the ninety-six-year-old poet’s personal life and that of her family remains stable, the world suffers increasing turmoil—be it war, displacement, or threats to our democracy. Laurel Feigenbaum’s poems of time and place reflect her observations, thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the crosscurrents of events over the recent decade. Politics, advancing technology, climate change, a lingering virus, family and aging are all topics she tackles in Life in No Ordinary Time with her trademark wit and poetic voice.⁠
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[COVER DESIGN by Robert R. Sanders ]⁠
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06/08/2024

NINE DAYS LEFT⁠
to pre-order ORDINARY OMENS by LeAnn Bjerken⁠

https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/ordinary-omens⁠

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"Ordinary Omens combines earthly beauty with cosmic magic. Each poem contains its own universe, paying tribute to our senses with detailed imagery, and at the same time, reaching out to the mysteries of the universe. The poetry touches the true and authentic inner longings of the readers and carries us toward deeper realms involving the intersection of our own personal language with a new voice from the Muse, the voice of LeAnn Bjerken. The reader will soar on the wings of pure poetry, poetry our world needs now more than ever."⁠
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—Nila J. Webster, author of Remember Rain⁠
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[COVER DESIGN by Robert R. Sanders ]⁠
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⁠ ⁠.bjerken

05/08/2024

TEN DAYS LEFT⁠
to pre-order ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY by Heikki Huotari ⁠
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More Info and Order HERE:⁠
https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/acceleration⁠

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The poems in Acceleration Due to Gravity are lyrically ekphrastic, consistently disyllabic, breathlessly defamiliarizing, bombastically assertive and speciously inferential. Huotari focuses locally on sonic templates and globally on the structure of logical proofs. For rhetoric and timing, he borrows heavily from the structures of fire-and-brimstone preaching and stand-up comedy.⁠
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"Here, with unfailing irony, for those readers whose education is not strictly professionalized, we have the Marriage of Physics and Poetry, of elementary particles with elementary joy."⁠
—Isabel Nirenberg, co-editor of Offcourse⁠
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[COVER DESIGN by Shawn Aveningo Sanders]⁠
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http://www.thePoetryBox.com/

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Videos

Enjoy this video of Cristina Norcross sharing her poem from The Poeming Pigeon: from Pandemic to Protest To hear more great poems, join us on Zoom for our launch on Oct 9 at 4pm Pacific (7pm Eastern). Details and zoom link: https://thepoetrybox.com/live-10092021

A poem by Pamela R. Anderson from The Poeming Pigeon: from Pandemic to Protest... https://thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/tpp-pandemic-protest

Deborah Bachels Schmidt will be one of the readers at our upcoming zoom launch for The Poeming Pigeon: from Pandemic to Protest, on Saturday, OCT 9, at 4pm Pacific (7 pm Eastern). Hope you can join us. All the details and zoom link: https://thepoetrybox.com/live-10092021

From Pandemic to Protest--a Book Launch Celebration

YOU’RE INVITED! Book Launch Celebration for The Poeming Pigeon: From Pandemic to Protest issue. SATURDAY October 9, 2021 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific) / 7:00 PM (Eastern) via zoom. Featuring 30 poets from across the country share their poems from this powerful issue: Dee Allen, Tiel Aisha Ansari, David Belmont, J V Birch, Joann Renee Boswell, Erika B. Girard, Joanne Godley, Suzy Harris, Hadley Hutton, Marilyn Johnston, J.I. Kleinberg, Elizabeth Kuelbs, Lynda La Rose, Bethany Lee, Rebecca K. Leet, Sherri Hope Levine, M. F. McAuliffe, Eileen McGurn, Carter McKenzie, Angie Minkin, Annie Klier Newcomer, Alan Perry, Jennifer Pratt-Walter, Anne Rankin, Sandra Rivers-Gill, Joel Savishinsky, JoAnna Scandiffio, Deborah Bachels Schmidt, Merna Dyer Skinner, and Phillip Wilson For zoom link and details, go to: https://thepoetrybox.com/live-10092021

Merna Dyer Skinner will be joining us this Saturday, Oct 9th for our Book Launch Celebration of The Poeming Pigeon: From Pandemic to Protest. More info and zoom link here: https://thepoetrybox.com/live-10092021

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Our Story

The Poetry Box® was founded in 2011 by Shawn Aveningo & Robert R. Sanders, who wholeheartedly believe that every day spent with the people you love, doing what you love, is a moment in life worth celebrating.

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It all started out as our way to help people memorialize the special milestones in their lives by melding custom poems with photographic artwork for anniversaries, birthdays, holidays and other special occasions. For the first few years, our main focus was creating this Custom Poetic Art for a variety of clients (deployed soldiers, teachers, husbands, wives, grandchildren). Note: We are no longer offering this service, but invite you to view our gallery of past work below:

Samples of Commissioned Poetry Projects

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While living in Sacramento, CA, word started to spread about The Poetry Box and Shawn was invited to host a monthly poetry series in a new Wine Tasting Room/Art Gallery in Folsom.

In February 2012, the Verse on the Vine® series was born, and for two years we enjoyed sharing poetry with a brand new audience at Petra’s Wine Gallery.

At the height of its success, we published a commemorative anthology honoring the many participants in the series before it ended in December 2013, which is when we decided to move to Portland, Oregon.

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Of course, we didn’t waste anytime once we settled in Portland, and being inspired by the “Keep Portland Weird” moniker, we decided to introduce ourselves to the local literary scene with a call for submissions of poetry and stories related to Portland.

In November 2014, we released Keeping It Weird and packed the house at Ford Food & Drink with a fun Book Launch Celebration complete with live music and the fun, lively sharing of poetry with our new friends and neighbors.

It became obvious we had landed in the right town to call home. The Portland literary community has been very welcoming and supportive. Shawn became involved with the local women’s writing community known as VoiceCatcher. She volunteered to be a board member and re-designed and managed their online journal for 2 1/2 years. She and Robert also did the book and cover design for VoiceCatcher’s Ten-year anthology, She Holds the Face of the World.

📷It was also during this time, we started our flagship journal, The Poeming Pigeon. At first, we envisioned it to be one anthology about birds which we titled Poeming Pigeons. It then evolved into an bi-annual journal, each with a unique theme. Now starting its 4th year, The Poeming Pigeon journal is still going strong and attracting new poets from around the glove, with an average of 600-700 submissions per issue.

Who knew that facing my lifelong fear of birds would lead to building such a wonderful poetry community? By the way, I feed my little backyard juncos daily and have an app on my phone to identify all my new fine-feathered friends. Life is full of joyous surprises!

With the success of each book, our reputation for editing and designing quality literary books was growing. We were hired to design and publish books for author’s self-publishing memoirs, short stories, family histories and even an illustrated book about tarot cards. So we decided to also publish single author collections of local poets we knew and whose work we admired.

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Beginning in 2018, we continue to expanded our passion for publishing poetry with the introduction of The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize and a new model for a more traditional book-publishing paradigm for both full-length poetry collections and chapbooks. We also have plans to offer ancillary support to our poets and authors in the form of marketing materials, book launches, and author websites.