Inside the Writer’s Head: From Poem to Book: Manuel Iris and Sara Moore Wagner

Written by Pauletta Hansel, Writer-in-Residence, Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library

Our 2022 Writer-in-Residence, Pauletta Hansel, is a poet, memoirist, teacher, and editor. Attend her upcoming workshops and writers' office hours. And, listen to her as host of CHPL's "Inside the Writer's Head" podcast, opens a new window.

In this episode of “Inside the Writer’s Head” podcast, I talk with fellow poet laureate emeritus, Manuel Iris and the prolific and award-winning poet Sara Moore Wagner on demystifying the mysterious process of developing a poetry manuscript, a collection of turning individual poems larger than the sum of its parts.

Find Inside the Writer's Head on Apple Podcasts, opens a new window, Google Podcasts, opens a new window, Stitcher, opens a new window, Spotify, opens a new window, or your favorite podcast app.

We three poets have much to say on this subject! Manuel has written five poetry collections in Spanish before his bilingual collections, most recently The parting present / lo que se irá, opens a new window. Sara has three award-winning collections coming out in 2022; Tumbling After, opens a new window is now available. My ninth collection is Heartbreak Tree, opens a new window; I regularly teach classes and mentor others on the development of poetry manuscripts. Join us for this energetic discussion, and check out the bonus footage as well! As you will learn in the podcast, there are many roads to publication. Sara Moore Wagner chose the contest route and speaks about her learnings—and her success—in a video conversation with me.

More to Explore

Read the works discussed and written by the guests on this episode of “Inside the Writer’s Head:"