Poets & Writers I Read

     When I visit people's homes, I like to snoop, cruise the bookshelves, see what they read. Like listening to someone's playlist on their iPod, you can learn a lot about someone from the titles, the genres, the range of books they keep close at hand. Here is a short, eclectic, and incomplete list of the poets and writers I read, always growing.

     Some of the writers' names are highlighted, and by clicking on them you will be linked to their home page or web sites that feature them. As time permits, I'll be adding more information about the genre and style of these writers. 

     I hope you enjoy getting to know some of the writers who I appreciate, those who have influenced and inspired me.

Leroy Aarons
Anya Achtenberg
Jonis Agee
Elizabeth Alexander
Sherman Alexie
Joseph Amato
​Edie Barrett
​Martha Beck
Brian Bedard
Wendell Berry
George Bilgere
Elizabeth Bishop
Candace Black
Kimberly Blaeser
Elizabeth Blair
Richard Blanco
Carol Bly
Robert Bly
Eavan Boland
Todd Boss
Ray Bradbury
Emily Brisse
David Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks
Lauren Carlson
Julia Cameron
Julia Child
Billy Collins
Maryann Corbett
Hugh Curtler
Austin Dacey
Florence Chard Dacey
Philip Dacey
Leo Dangel
Rebecca Fjelland Davis
Dorothy Day
Kate DiCamillo
Charles Dickens
Emily Dickinson
Annie Dillard
Alixa Doom
Carol Ann Duffy
Denise Duhamel
Stephen Dunn
Heid Erdich
Louise Erdrich
David Allan Evans
Beth Ann Fennelly
Jason Freeman
Larry Gavin
Sonia Gernes
Elizabeth Gilbert
Louise Gluck
Natalie Goldberg
Mary Gordon
Paul Gruchow
Thich Nhat Hanh
Phebe Hanson
Jim Harrison
Gwen Hart
Roger Hart
Jon Hassler
Seamus Heaney
Nicole Helget
Nancy Henry
Patrick Hicks
Bill Holm
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Langston Hughes
Barbara Hurd
Jane Kenyon
Athena Kildegaard
Barbara Kingsolver
Maxine Hong Kingston
Carolyn Kizer
Anne Lamott
Ted Kooser
Dorianne Laux
Nate Leboutillier
Ed Bok Lee
Li‐Young Lee
Sister Jean Lenz, OSF
Denise Levertov
C.S. Lewis
Adrian C. Louis
Kelly Madigan
Frank McCourt
Laura McCullough
Susan McLean
Anna George Meek
Thomas Merton
Edward Micus
Leslie Adrienne Miller
Howard Mohr
Alice Munro
Caroline Myss
Kathleen Norris
Barack Obama
Flannery O'Connor
Thomas O'Grady
Sharon Olds
Mary Oliver
Lon Otto
Nancy Paddock
Ann Patchett
Walker Percy
Lucia Perillo
David Pichaske
Marge Piercy
Wang Ping
Sylvia Plath
Michael Pollan
Anna Quindlen
​Saara Myrene Raappana
Jim Reese
John Rezmerski
Adrienne Rich
James Whitcomb Riley
Rainer Maria Rilke
Richard Robbins
Mark Anthony Rolo
Lee Ann Roripaugh
J.K. Rowling
Rumi
Marjorie Saiser
Antoine de Saint Exupery
Heather Sellers
Anne Sexton
Jim Shepard
Naomi Shihab Nye
Charles Simic
Anthony Neil Smith
Christine Stark
Christine Stewart‐Nunez
Faith Sullivan
Joyce Sutphen
Barton Sutter
Kerry Temple
Richard Terrill
Tomas Transtromer
William Turgeon
James Van Amber
Connie Wanek
Rayme Waters
Allison Benis White
Walt Whitman
David Whyte
Elie Wiesel
Judy Wilson
Jeff Worley
Dana Yost
​James A. Zarzana
Kevin Zepper
Paul Zimmer