Ten years ago, Mentor & Muse: Essays from Poets to Poets began as a project that Blas Falconer, Beth Martinelli, and I hoped would offer poets useful resources that would teach, challenge, and inspire. Each essay discussed a specific poetic element and included a writing prompt. The project was originally published by Southern Illinois University Press in 2010.
In March of 2018, we launched Mentor and Muse online with the hope of inviting more poets to join our ongoing conversation. For the online project, we include craft essays, interviews and conversations addressing poetic tools, and tributes to poetic mentors. Whenever possible, we include the discussed poems (or links to poems available online).
The first ten issues include essays, interviews, and tributes from Jericho Brown, Shara McCallum, Sarah Rose Nordgren, Matthew Olzmann, Sandy Solomon, and others.
Please join us. To read essays, write poems, or review submission guidelines, visit Mentor and Muse.
Helena Mesa 