Out in late July, 2019
In September 2017 I placed a call for poems here at NinaAlvarez.net. One winner every month would receive $50 and online publication.
I was looking for well-crafted pieces on what I was framing as “transcendent experience,” those glimpses of nonduality and spirit, the quest for self-realization, the longing to understand the mysteries of the universe. I wanted to know if there were still people out there looking for what unites us with each other and with life—especially as the news and media became more and more divisive and reductive—and I would happily pay out $50/month to find them.
For the following ten months I received hundreds of submissions: great poems, not-so-great poems, and everything in between.
I could only pick one winner every month, but often a poem arrested me so much I couldn’t let it go. This month I will finally be able to share all the most significant and compelling poems submitted to the 2017-2018 Poem of the Month contest in The Spirit It Travels: An Anthology of Transcendent Poetry.
This anthology is the indispensable companion to those who want to tap into the consciousness of transcendence by contemporary poets from many locations, backgrounds, and walks of life. With varying styles, voices, themes, and cultures, 84 poems are presented in 7 sections of 12 poems each, loosely categorized into: searching, introspection, secrets, time, the mysteries of nature, awakening in nature, and spirituality. Featuring works by poets from the U.S., UK, Canada, Turkey, and Singapore, these selections paint a dynamic portrait of contemporary transcendent thought and feeling.
The name of this anthology, The Spirit It Travels, is meant to be read both ways: “the spirit, it travels” . . . and “the spirit it travels.” In other words, the spirit as the traveler, and the spirit is also the road we (and all things) travel.
In this collection you will find the soul-work of poets 19 – 80+ years old: professors, poets laureate, college students, English teachers, teaching artists, arts administrators, professors, MFAs, PhDs, copywriters, reporters and columnists, lawyers, visual artists, artists-in-residence, filmmakers, actors, musicians, music teachers, social workers, youth advocates, refugee advocates, travelers, food columnists, semi-truck drivers, and two with interesting library jobs: running the tea service at University of Colorado Law Library and archiving the audiovisual catalog at the New York Public Library.
Some of the writers herein have over a hundred publications, some have multiple poetry prizes, and still there are some for whom this will be their first publication.
With 84 poems by 63 poets from 5 countries, this anthology explores the many faces of transcendent experience.
PREORDERS
The Spirit It Travels comes out in late July 2019, but you can pre-order it now and it will be shipped to you upon publication. We are currently offering 15% off pre-orders if you use the code: PREORDER
Poem of the Month 