Religious Poetry – Janet Ruth Heller

Poem “Annunciation” published in the Reformed Journal

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:June 25, 2025
Post category:Creative Writing Literary Magazines Literature Lyric Poetry Midrash/Exegesis Nature Nature Poetry Poetry Published Poetry Religious Poetry

My poem "Annunciation" just got published in the Reformed Journal. Also, Poetry Editor Rose Postma interviewed me for a podcast. Here are the links: the poem is https://reformedjournal.com/poetry/ and the podcast is https://reformedjournal.com/podcast/ I wrote the first draft of this poem in 1972 and recently revised it. My boyfriend had broken up with me. The "slough of despond" refers to the novel The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. #annunciation #religiouspoetry #midrash #lyricpoetry

Published Senryu Poem and Interview in Grand Rapids Magazine

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:March 27, 2025
Post category:Creative Writing Interviews Jewish Poetry Midrash/Exegesis Poetry Published Poetry Religious Poetry Senryu

Recently, I published a poem and got interviewed by Ann Byle for Grand Rapids Magazine. Editor Kelly Moyer published my senryu “Quilting” in failed haiku 9, #108 (February 2025) on page 152. The link is https://failedhaiku.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/failedhaikuissue108-final-1.pdf The title of this journal is a joke: failed haiku publishes only senryu poems, not haiku, unlike most micropoetry journals. Ann Byle interviewed four Southwest Michigan writers who publish religious poems in for her article “Inspiring Beliefs: Writers Share Journeys to Faith-Infused Poetry” that appeared in Grand Rapids Magazine in the March/April 2025 issue on pages 19 to 21. Byle quotes part of my poem “Sarah’s Prayer” from my book Exodus (WordTech Editions, 2014) in her essay. Other writers included in this article are Jeff Munroe, Jane Zwart, and Katie Kalisz. #senryu #interview #jewishpoetry #religiouspoetry #quilting Photo of Janet Ruth Heller by Darrin Goodman

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I love books by British writers P. D. James, Seamus Heaney, S. T. Coleridge, Jane Austen, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, W. B. Yeats;

American writers Judy Blume, Edna St. Vincent Millay, T. S. Eliot, Maxine Kumin, Jim Daniels, Mong-Lan, Robert Hayden, Langston Hughes, Naomi Shihab Nye, Alberto Ríos, Gail B. Griffin, Jerry Spinelli, Jane Yolen, Kathryn Erskine, Gary D. Schmidt, Adrienne Rich, Judith Minty, Gwendolyn Brooks, Marge Piercy, Grace Paley, Alicia Ostriker, Jaimy Gordon; South African writer Athol Fugard;

Israeli writers Chaim Nachman Bialik, Yehudah Amichai, Rachel Bluwstein, Chaim Guri, S. Y. Agnon; and Hispanic writers Sor Juana, Federico García Lorca, Ruben Darío, Antonio Machado, Jorge Guillén, Pedro Salinas, and Dámaso Alonso.

I also love Japanese haiku, especially those by Matsuo Bashō.

My writing has been influenced by many other authors, including British writers Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Jane Austen, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, W. B. Yeats;

American writers Edna St. Vincent Millay, T. S. Eliot, Maxine Kumin, Adrienne Rich, Judith Minty, Gwendolyn Brooks;

Israeli writers Chaim Nachman Bialik, Yehudah Amichai, Rachel Bluwstein, Chaim Guri, S. Y. Agnon, and Hispanic writers Sor Juana, Federico Garcia Lorca, Ruben Dario, Antonio Machado, Jorge Guillen, Pedro Salinas, and Damaso Alonso.