Anthology

Poems in the anthology Covenant of Justice

My poems “A Woman Prophet” and “The Bond of Gratitude” just appeared in the anthology Covenant of Justice: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations from Women of Reform Judaism, Boston: Women of Reform Judaism and the CCAR Press, 2025 on pages 4 and 96. This collection features writing by many women. The book is unusual in not putting authors' names next to their poems and not including any biographical statements or even listing authors' websites. While I like the idea of a collective women's anthology, I also believe that writers' individual voices are important too. Edit Image Photo of Janet Ruth Heller by Diane Joy Schmidt

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Poetry Leaves anthology publishes a poem about the Chicago blizzard of 1979

My poem “January Blizzard” was recently printed in Poetry Leaves: Adult Contemporary Anthology, edited by Emily Kazmierczak and published by the Waterford Township Public Library, 2020, on page 75.  Poetry Leaves submissions come from all over the world. There was going to be an exhibit of all of the poems at the library in Waterford, Michigan from May 20 to June 3, 2020, but that got canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic.  I had been trying to get "January Blizzard" published since February 1979.  I wrote it after about two feet of snow fell on Chicago, where I was living and teaching at the time.  The city administration had trouble dealing with all of the snow, and the resulting mess helped Jane Byrne to get elected mayor, the first woman to hold this position. Attachment Preview Janet Ruth Heller reading her poems at the Kalamazoo Public Library; photo by Hedy Habra

Continue ReadingPoetry Leaves anthology publishes a poem about the Chicago blizzard of 1979

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