Underground Railroad – Janet Ruth Heller

Poem about Pamela Brown Thomas of Michigan’s Underground Railroad

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:September 28, 2023
Post category:anti-slavery dramatic monologue Literary Magazines Literature Poetry Published Poetry Underground Railroad

Panoply literary magazine recently published my poem "Pamela Brown Thomas" in its issue 25 of September 8, 2023. My poem concerns a real woman in the 1800s who helped the Underground Railroad in Schoolcraft, Michigan, and hid African Americans trying to escape slavery. My poem is a dramatic monologue from the perspective of Pamela Brown Thomas. The Editor-in-Chief of Panoply is Jeff Santosuosso. Here is the link to my poem: https://panoplyzine.com/pamela-brown-thomas-by-janet-ruth-heller/ #poetry#undergroundrailroad#antislavery#dramaticmonologue Home of Pamela and Nathan Thomas in Schoolcraft and Underground Railroad Museum--photo taken by the Schoolcraft Historical Society

Artifactory Poetry Reading on Sunday, October 20 at 1 p.m. at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center in Kalamazoo, MI

Post author:Janet Ruth Heller
Post published:October 3, 2019
Post category:Janet's Speaking Events Poetry Poetry Reading

Twelve poets will be reading for Artifactory on October 20, 2019 at 1 p.m. at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center at 1650 Oakland Drive in Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5307. The following writers will present work about important places connected to the history of Kalamazoo, Schoolcraft, and other cities in Southwest Michigan: Kathy Rabbers, Robin Church, Robert Post, Susan Blackwell Ramsey, Nancy Hoy Nott, Jennifer Clark, Elaine M. Seaman, Jill Doster Marcusse, Janet Ruth Heller, Elizabeth Kerlikowske, Ruth Moerdyk, and Margaret DeRitter. Janet Ruth Heller will read her poem "Pamela Brown Thomas," which concerns a woman in Schoolcraft who was active in the Underground Railroad that helped former slaves escape to freedom in the 1800s. Historians Sharon Carlson and Lynn Houghton will comment on the unique sites mentioned in the poetry. The sponsor of Artifactory is Friends of Poetry. Its Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofpoetry/ Janet Ruth Heller reading her poetry; photo by Hedy Habra

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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.