Lisa Allen
@backtoallen.bsky.social
Writer/editor/library person. MFA x 2, @solsticemfa. Co-founder/co-director The Notebooks Collective.
Oct. 21st! Come celebrate Iain Haley Pollock's exceptional new collection with us!
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
October 12, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Oct. 21st! Come celebrate Iain Haley Pollock's exceptional new collection with us!
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
That's this coming Tuesday, everyone! Come join us!
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
September 12, 2025 at 3:19 PM
That's this coming Tuesday, everyone! Come join us!
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Indulging in beautiful poems by Monica Lee Weatherly & Valerie Smith via @notebookscltv.bsky.social Home & place. Belonging & longing.
August 20, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Indulging in beautiful poems by Monica Lee Weatherly & Valerie Smith via @notebookscltv.bsky.social Home & place. Belonging & longing.
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Join us on August 3rd to learn how to practice identifying what’s working in a piece, what questions it’s asking, and what possibilities revision can open up. Through interactive lecture and guided prompts, we’ll explore how to cultivate a more generous, self-aware approach to the revision process.
Tools for Self-Critique
Shift your revision practice from one of judgment to one of discovery and accountability.
thenotebookscollective.com
July 24, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Join us on August 3rd to learn how to practice identifying what’s working in a piece, what questions it’s asking, and what possibilities revision can open up. Through interactive lecture and guided prompts, we’ll explore how to cultivate a more generous, self-aware approach to the revision process.
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Friends, we'd love for you to join us for this class on Sunday, July 27th. @cynthiamhoffman.bsky.social is teaching Write Two: The Prose Poem as Diptych Memoir and whew, does it promise to be an amazing two hours.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/write-...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/write-...
Write Two: The Prose Poem as Diptych Memoir
This is a class in dualities: two forms, two poems. (In two hours!) The two forms: We’ll explore the prose poem (a hybrid of prose and poetry) and the prose poem as memoir (a lyric rendering of a…
thenotebookscollective.com
July 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Friends, we'd love for you to join us for this class on Sunday, July 27th. @cynthiamhoffman.bsky.social is teaching Write Two: The Prose Poem as Diptych Memoir and whew, does it promise to be an amazing two hours.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/write-...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/write-...
Reposted by Lisa Allen
ICYMI, the pope's letter on reading:
Letter of the Holy Father on the Role of Literature in Formation (17 July 2024) | Francis
Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis on the Role of Literature in Formation, 17 July 2024
www.vatican.va
April 21, 2025 at 1:37 PM
ICYMI, the pope's letter on reading:
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Also, don't miss this free opportunity to explore the epistolary form as a way to address current social justice issues in today’s political landscape with Pauletta Hansel and Tabassam Shah: poetsagainstracism-usa.org/events/
April 9, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Also, don't miss this free opportunity to explore the epistolary form as a way to address current social justice issues in today’s political landscape with Pauletta Hansel and Tabassam Shah: poetsagainstracism-usa.org/events/
Reposted by Lisa Allen
One week from tonight! Join Fleda Brown & @oomenam.bsky.social for an In Conversation. Both acclaimed poets and essayists, Fleda and Anne-Marie are also both teachers, Michganders, and friends. Registration is free for this virtual event!
In Conversation: Fleda Brown & Anne-Marie Oomen
Emotional openness. An invitation to think together. Fleda Brown and Anne-Marie Oomen aren’t just contemporaries; they’re friends and deep admirers of each other’s work.
thenotebookscollective.com
April 15, 2025 at 3:16 PM
One week from tonight! Join Fleda Brown & @oomenam.bsky.social for an In Conversation. Both acclaimed poets and essayists, Fleda and Anne-Marie are also both teachers, Michganders, and friends. Registration is free for this virtual event!
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Writing is fine. It's literally the most embarrassing thing on earth to put yourself on full display for rejection or validation, but it's fine. I enjoy it. I find it therapeutic to set myself on fire.
April 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Writing is fine. It's literally the most embarrassing thing on earth to put yourself on full display for rejection or validation, but it's fine. I enjoy it. I find it therapeutic to set myself on fire.
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Our next In Conversation is on March 18 with @cynthiamhoffman.bsky.social & Sarah Kain Gutowski. They’ll talk their respective collections as book-length “projects,” how their own journeys with OCD/anxiety have impacted their work; and more.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
Cynthia Marie Hoffman & Sarah Kain Gutowski
Poets Cynthia Marie Hoffman and Sarah Kain Gutowski will read from their collected works, with an emphasis on their newest respective collections, both of which are cohesively themed (Cynthia’s is a…
thenotebookscollective.com
March 9, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Our next In Conversation is on March 18 with @cynthiamhoffman.bsky.social & Sarah Kain Gutowski. They’ll talk their respective collections as book-length “projects,” how their own journeys with OCD/anxiety have impacted their work; and more.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
Reposted by Lisa Allen
This is happening this Tuesday evening! We're still pinching ourselves a little that we get to host these poets and hope that you join us! Reminder: In Conversation events are free and virtual (via Zoom) and all are welcome :)
Our next In Conversation is on March 18 with @cynthiamhoffman.bsky.social & Sarah Kain Gutowski. They’ll talk their respective collections as book-length “projects,” how their own journeys with OCD/anxiety have impacted their work; and more.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
Cynthia Marie Hoffman & Sarah Kain Gutowski
Poets Cynthia Marie Hoffman and Sarah Kain Gutowski will read from their collected works, with an emphasis on their newest respective collections, both of which are cohesively themed (Cynthia’s is a…
thenotebookscollective.com
March 16, 2025 at 4:34 PM
This is happening this Tuesday evening! We're still pinching ourselves a little that we get to host these poets and hope that you join us! Reminder: In Conversation events are free and virtual (via Zoom) and all are welcome :)
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Busy Sunday? @jessicacuello.bsky.social is teaching a class about persona poetry and we'd love for you to join us. Find details and registration info at the link.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/writin...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/writin...
February 27, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Busy Sunday? @jessicacuello.bsky.social is teaching a class about persona poetry and we'd love for you to join us. Find details and registration info at the link.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/writin...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/writin...
Reposted by Lisa Allen
If you're in Cincy this Tuesday (Feb. 4th), come to Sitwell's Coffee House for some electric poetry from @taylorbyas.bsky.social & @kebpoet.bsky.social! We'll have an open mc, too!
February 3, 2025 at 12:22 AM
If you're in Cincy this Tuesday (Feb. 4th), come to Sitwell's Coffee House for some electric poetry from @taylorbyas.bsky.social & @kebpoet.bsky.social! We'll have an open mc, too!
The phenomenally talented poet @jessicacuello.bsky.social is teaching a persona class on March 2nd for only $60 and I'm irrationally excited. More here: thenotebookscollective.com/event/writin...
Writing Persona: When a Mask Is All We Can Bear
A generative course that will look attentively at poems by Ai, Lucie Brock-Broido, and Patricia Smith among others. We’ll explore ways to enter persona and deepen the imaginative possibilities of…
thenotebookscollective.com
February 1, 2025 at 4:12 PM
The phenomenally talented poet @jessicacuello.bsky.social is teaching a persona class on March 2nd for only $60 and I'm irrationally excited. More here: thenotebookscollective.com/event/writin...
So excited for this In Conversation event!
It's time to talk about February's In Conversation event with Dzvinia Orlowsky & María Luisa Arroyo! Join us Tuesday, Feb. 25th at 7:30 PM EST. Our events are always virtual and In Conversations are free--just register to receive the link.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/in-con...
In Conversation: Dzvinia Orlowsky & María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado
Multi-lingual poets Dzvinia Orlowsky and María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado will read from their respective bodies of work and discuss their poetry and creative processes.
thenotebookscollective.com
January 30, 2025 at 12:01 AM
So excited for this In Conversation event!
Reposted by Lisa Allen
This order doesn't just ban trans people from the military. It states that this administration believes trans people lack "an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle" and that being trans "is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member."
NEW: Here is Trump's anti-trans military executive order. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness – The White House
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
www.whitehouse.gov
January 28, 2025 at 4:39 AM
This order doesn't just ban trans people from the military. It states that this administration believes trans people lack "an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle" and that being trans "is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member."
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Your regular reminder to tell the creators whose work you love that you love their work. Doesn't have to be a conversation, can just be "hey, you made a thing I love, thank you for it." It'll make their day, and probably yours too.
January 22, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Your regular reminder to tell the creators whose work you love that you love their work. Doesn't have to be a conversation, can just be "hey, you made a thing I love, thank you for it." It'll make their day, and probably yours too.
Reposted by Lisa Allen
I had the chance to work with Poet Lore to pick some amazing poems! I really hope y’all enjoy my selections
www.poetlore.com/2024/12/17/v...
www.poetlore.com/2024/12/17/v...
Volume 119 Summer/Fall 2024 Guest Editor’s Note - Poet Lore
www.poetlore.com
December 20, 2024 at 11:53 PM
I had the chance to work with Poet Lore to pick some amazing poems! I really hope y’all enjoy my selections
www.poetlore.com/2024/12/17/v...
www.poetlore.com/2024/12/17/v...
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Reposted by Lisa Allen
This is the energy I need to see from our reps. More of this. Please.
AOC comes out swinging against a Nancy Mace for targeting Sarah McBride.
"They're doing this so that Nancy Mace can ... fundraise off an email. They're not doing this to protect people. They're endangering women, they're endangering girls of all kinds. And everybody should reject it. It's gross."
"They're doing this so that Nancy Mace can ... fundraise off an email. They're not doing this to protect people. They're endangering women, they're endangering girls of all kinds. And everybody should reject it. It's gross."
November 21, 2024 at 3:09 AM
This is the energy I need to see from our reps. More of this. Please.
Reposted by Lisa Allen
An important note about bathrooms in the US Capitol: members have private bathrooms in their offices.
Members who are obsessed with where other people pee can use their own private bathroom.
Members who are obsessed with where other people pee can use their own private bathroom.
November 21, 2024 at 12:28 PM
An important note about bathrooms in the US Capitol: members have private bathrooms in their offices.
Members who are obsessed with where other people pee can use their own private bathroom.
Members who are obsessed with where other people pee can use their own private bathroom.
Unconscionable and yet I'm sadly not surprised.
“To call this bleak is an understatement.” HarperCollins is selling their authors’ work to AI tech.
HarperCollins is selling their authors’ work to AI tech.
On Friday, author Daniel Kibblesmith posted a series of screenshots on Bluesky in order to share a concerning email he received from the agency who’d repped him on his children’s book S…
lithub.com
November 18, 2024 at 7:34 PM
Unconscionable and yet I'm sadly not surprised.
Reposted by Lisa Allen
Hi poets & writers! My pal @backtoallen.bsky.social & I run @notebookscltv.bsky.social & you should follow us! We host creatives in conversation, readings, & classes! #poetry #blueskypoets
November 15, 2024 at 11:51 PM
Hi poets & writers! My pal @backtoallen.bsky.social & I run @notebookscltv.bsky.social & you should follow us! We host creatives in conversation, readings, & classes! #poetry #blueskypoets
Join us Tuesday night for a celebration of #poet Saara Myrene Raappana who posthumously won the Juniper prize for her collection Chamber After Chamber. Her husband, Eric Doise and friends/writers Lauren K. Carlson and Halley Cotton will read Saara's work.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/celebr...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/celebr...
Celebration of Saara Myrene Raappana
A reading with Eric Doise, Lauren Carlson and Halley Cotton to celebrate the work of poet and writer Saara Myrene Raappana.
thenotebookscollective.com
November 11, 2024 at 3:15 PM
Join us Tuesday night for a celebration of #poet Saara Myrene Raappana who posthumously won the Juniper prize for her collection Chamber After Chamber. Her husband, Eric Doise and friends/writers Lauren K. Carlson and Halley Cotton will read Saara's work.
thenotebookscollective.com/event/celebr...
thenotebookscollective.com/event/celebr...
Reposted by Lisa Allen
“I tell you how it is that we live and what it is that we do. We get ourselves up off our much abused sofas to the old intolerable sound of hollow spoons and hollow bowls to ensure that our love has not left the world or else.”
C.D. Wright
C.D. Wright
November 11, 2024 at 1:19 PM
“I tell you how it is that we live and what it is that we do. We get ourselves up off our much abused sofas to the old intolerable sound of hollow spoons and hollow bowls to ensure that our love has not left the world or else.”
C.D. Wright
C.D. Wright