Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tanita S. Davis for Roundup.
First: this week's Tuesday 2-Minute Writing Tip 31 is all about Writers & AI. Find out how I'm using AI, and how I'm not.
Second: I'm thrilled to be teaching another poetry webinar over at Inked Voices! Last year I tackled punctuation in poetry. This year I'm talking about one of my most favorite elements of poetry: surprise! Join me to learn "8 Ways to Wake Up Your Poetry: How to Create Surprise, Tension & the Unexpected Inevitable." Monday, April 27, 2026, 3 pm CST. Click to register.
I'll also be offering a limited number of poetry consultations in conjunction with this offering. So, if you need encouragement and/or feedback, I'm excited to help.
Third: My first novel for adults is coming next month from Historium Press! It's a blend of history and imagination that explores the lives of Vincent van Gogh and Emily Dickinson and answers the question: What—or who—inspired The Starry Night?
Y'all, I have long wanted to write a big, bittersweet love story...and now I have! I loved communing with Emily and Vincent.
That question you've heard about your ideal dinner party? Emily and Vincent are certainly at the top of my guest list! And this book is all about me exploring how a chance meeting between these two brilliant souls might change their art, their lives, and...US. It includes poems, letters, history, magic, mystery...and did I mention I loved writing it? I also got to write some poems for the book in the style of Emily Dickinson.. a whole series called "The Paris Poems by Emily Dickinson." More on this soon!
For a limited time, the publisher is running a pre-order special on the e-book: 99 cents! I really, really hope you like it.
Finally, my ArtSpeak: WOMEN piece this week features a Warhol-esque piece by Elaine Sturtevant. (I'm still working my way through the Harper's Bazaar list of women artists!) Sturtevant was known for her repetitions, particularly of Warhol's work. That got me thinking about repetition in nature, repetition in gardening, van Gogh's repetition in his art, and repetition in poetry...and then I had to stop! Because there are worlds within those worlds, and my get-to-do list is long. So I stopped myself at two (love!) poems, which I offer to you today. Thanks so much for reading.
May garden
the way my heart flares each time
I remember you
- Irene Latham
Repetitions
Ten thousand—
That’s how many times
a child mounts a bike
when learning to ride
A gardener in Hawaii
may plant ten thousand
hibiscus
to unify a garden
Your favorite artist paints
the same sky
ten thousand times
without moving on
No wonder
I whisper I love you
ten thousand times each day,
knowing ten thousand
will never be
enough.
- Irene Latham
Great Writing Tip this week, Irene! I never thought of using AI to find comps. The last stanza in "Repetitions" brought tears to my eyes. Beautiful! And I'm so looking forward to reading Some Starry Night, already preordered.
ReplyDeleteI am in an AI working group of librarians in my division mainly because I know I have a responsibility as a librarian to know about it and be able to help students navigate it. The environmental aspect of it worries me a great deal (we live surrounded by data centers). I'm glad it offered you REAL comps. I have found that some tools hallucinate way too much for me to use them yet (making up many books that simply don't exist). I found that the tools we pay for at school are more accurate at this point, but I know AI will get better with more data. I have found some interesting AI tools for finding research papers that have surprised me.
ReplyDeleteI have pre-ordered your book! Can't wait to read it!
And oh yes to a May garden! Can't wait for that.
I am coming to love the 2 minute tips. I listen to them as I get ready for work in the morning. LOL. By then, I've written my morning poem and my brain is transitioning. AI is big in school library right now as Marcie mentioned. I'm also loving how copilot is a tool that helps me refine lessons and organize large amounts of information. However, I really think that human touch cannot be replaced entirely. It's a fascinating topic for sure.
ReplyDeleteI've signed up for Inked Voices. Thanks for the invite. See you soon...I hope to have read your new book by then! I'm asking my public library to purchase so that many can enjoy it with me.
You amaze me, Irene! I plan to read your new book to see how you put these two lives together. I hope to see you in April!
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ReplyDeleteA NOVEL!?! A novel for ADULTS!? How exciting!! Go, YOU!!! That's amazing! Also, how much do I love the cover!?!?! It's gorgeous!!!
*ahem*
Back to Poetry Friday.
I think it's brilliant to use AI with the understanding that it's a tool. I'm intrigued by you digging into it, and look forward to checking that out. And, Repetitions is absolutely lovely. Love makes repeated brush strokes, additional plantings, and the pedal-fall-pedal-wobble-pedal-balance-fly of figuring things out all worth it.
Thank you for this post! Happy Friday, Poet!
I preordered the book! What fun!
ReplyDeleteI love Repetitions and that final stanza.
I attended several sessions on using AI in genealogical research at the RootsTech conference. There's a lot to learn, but it's exciting. I love how you pointed out that it's efficient.
Oh Irene, I loved, loved, loved your piece on AI! Do you pay for Gramarly? I can't wait fo your Starry Night book to publish and yes to Emily Dickinson!
ReplyDeleteIrene, Vincent and Emily are at the top of my list too. I'm so excited about your book! Can't wait to read it, just ordered it.
ReplyDeleteSweet ending to your "Repetition" poem, and many congrats on your forthcoming adult novel! I've used Grammarly for a while, however I use it as a tool, as you have inferred also. A difficult area in any kind of AI, if you are an instructor is guiding students in it's use so they are still formulating their own ideas, along with asking AI questions that help and not hinder their growth. I'm pondering on your Inked Voices class, because I'd only be able to watch the recording. Rich post, thanks for all Irene!
ReplyDeleteIrene! Congratulations on your upcoming release featuring Vincent and Emily (also two of my favorite historical figures)! Exciting! And you repetition poems are relatable. I love gardening, so that one is special to me for that reason. But the 10,000 poem - wow - the ending is heart warming. Thanks for offering us so much inspiration and goodness in your post!
ReplyDeleteOh, Irene, thank you for so much here. The culminating stanza of 10,000 times to say I love you in a day is strengthened through the previous stanzas, and your sweet garden poem with the flaring of the heart...what a great word in this poem "flares". Thank you for such a great post with so many treasures. I've ordered your love story, and I can't wait to read about Vincent and Emily.
ReplyDeleteYou have about 10,000 exciting things going on over here! Enjoyed the 2-minute tip, and I definitely have strong reservations about AI... but sometimes it is really useful. (The fake people freak me out as well, though, for sure.) Congrats on the new book, and thank you for sharing the special pre-order/e-download option. :0) Happy Spring! PS - Echoing love for "flares"!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read your book, Irene! And, for the poems, love connected to flowers, and numbers, a favorite thing of mine! Love hearing your AI response. I ask questions a lot, have used Grammarly for a long time, and ask it to create some small descriptions of books for the bookstore, a real time-saver. Thanks for all, Irene, and Happy Spring!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on all fronts, Irene. Can't wait to read your novel! Your repetition poem's last stanza brought tears to my eyes, thinking about my husband's cancer journey. Just wow...
ReplyDeleteOh, exquisite, Irene -- 10,000 I love you's!
ReplyDeleteLove love LOVE those repetitions!
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