midrash/exegesis – 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

Interview about Nature’s Olympics in the Detroit Jewish News

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:May 25, 2022
Post category:Interviews Midrash/Exegesis Nature Poetry Published Poetry

Suzanne Chessler of the Detroit Jewish News interviewed me about my new poetry book Nature’s Olympics (Wipf and Stock, 2021). She also asked about my other books. The interview appears in the current issue of the Detroit Jewish News on page 103. #interview #poetry #poetrybook

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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.