JESSICA COHN

"Mundane objects and daily rituals take on a pronounced existence

as she looks at life in fresh, original ways. . . . "  - Lisa Ledin

 

 

 " 'What describes what I can't say?' the speaker asks in this,

Jessica Cohn's stunning debut poetry collection. . . ."  - Sally Ashton

 

Finding her way forward in the post-truth world, Jessica Cohn marks a path with rocks, ribbons, and observations in verse.

 

In GRATITUDE DIARY, the first poetry collection from this long-time nonfiction writer, the poems follow an arc from grief and regret to illumination. Images carry us from broken islands and rancid flower water to communal fire and the medicine creek. Within these pages, readers are fitted with "the apparatus of wings" to find healing and the "terrible beauty" found in "stranger things."

 

I am excited my

first poetry book

GRATITUDE DIARY

has found its way

into the world.

 

My entire working life, I have

been writing on assignment;

GRATITUDE DIARY (Main Street Rag)

is the first book

I assigned myself.

 

Once you start reading the poems in these pages, you might think you were misled by

the title, because the book addresses how hard the work of living can be. 

But as one reviewer said,  "There are no false starts . . . . " 

 

 

 

At this point, most of my focus is on producing poetry; however, even at my age I am considered an emerging poet, and it's a way of living, not an actual living. To that end, you'll find me writing and editing for educational publishing outlets and clocking in as a part-time reporter for Courthouse News Service. As for interests, they tend to dovetail. I belong to a number of writing and study groups. I am a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Freelancers Union, League of Women Voters, and Academy of Poets, in addition to the Authors Guild. My volunteer work includes helping young writers and supporting the arts.

Thanks to the following journals, anthologies, and venues and their editors, readers, and producers for giving these poems a way into the world:

 

 

CALIFORNIA FIRE & WATER: A CLIMATE CRISIS ANTHOLOGY

"How to Read the Summer Sky"

CATAMARAN

"Projection" (Honorable Mention for the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition, National League of American Pen Women)

COFFEE-HOUSE POETRY

"Secret Baptism" (Commended for the Troubadour International Poetry Prize)

COMSTOCK REVIEW

"Now Appearing"

CRAB CREEK REVIEW

'"Filmishmish" (Semifinalist for the Crab Creek Poetry Prize)

FOUR STRING COLLABORATION: SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY 

"Storms Offshore"

MONTEREY POETRY REVIEW

"The Glimpse"

MUDFISH LITERARY JOURNAL

"The Movement of Clouds in Terrestrial Hours"

ODDBALL MAGAZINE

"Harbinger"

PHREN-Z

"Outside, Inside"

"She Leaves"

"Spoon"

"Tell Us about the War, and Love, Miss Dickinson: The Dead Poet's Exclusive Interview with NPR"

"Through Knotted Pine Walls"

"Toast"

POETRY NORTHWEST

"Here, in" (Finalist James Welch Poetry Prize)

PORTER GULCH REVIEW

"To Find Meaning" (Winner Best Poetry Submission)

PUBLIC POETRY: HABITS; THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY

"Gratitude Diary"

RATTLE

"Spring"

RED WHEELBARROW

"The Birds" (Semifinalist for the Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize)

RIVER HERON REVIEW

"Bodies of Water" (Finalist for River Heron Review Poetry Prize)

SAN DIEGO POETRY ANNUAL
"Animals" (Honorable Mention for the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize)

"Cheating on Henry Miller" (Honorable Mention for the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize)

SCHUYKILL VALLEY JOURNAL

"All the Rooms"

SCRIBBLER

"tl;dr (too long didn't read)"

SLAB

"End of Day" 

"We Once"

SLEET MAGAZINE          

"Disembodied"

SOUTHERN HUMANITIES REVIEW

"Body" (Finalist for the Auburn Witness Poetry Prize)

SOUTHERN POETRY REVIEW

"Longhand"

SPILLWAY 29

"To a Dear Friend in a Year of Losses"

SPLIT ROCK REVIEW

"Transplants" (Nominated for the Orison Anthology)

STONECOAST REVIEW

"The Fruit"

"NIGHT in Capitola"

SYNKRONICITI

"Broken Skies"

"Languishing"

"Return of Coyote"
TAR RIVER POETRY

"The Fair Condition of the World"

THE JOURNAL OF UNDISCOVERED POETS

"Where Would We Be Without Blue"

THE RAVENSPERCH

"In Turn"

"Report from a Coastal Patio"

WEST TRESTLE REVIEW

"Infinitely Stranger"
WHAT ROUGH BEAST

"Blame the Moon"

WHITE STAGE PUBLISHING: AERATION

"Body Count"

"Evidence"

"What the Months Have Taught"

WHITE STAGE PUBLISHING: GROUNDING EARTH

"Bear Hunt"

"Bearings"

"Next Planet"

WRITTEN HERE AND THERE: THE COMMUNITY OF WRITERS POETRY REVIEW 2021

"Associating with Roadkill" 

ZOETIC PRESS: NONBINARY REVIEW

"Preserving Lemons"