In honour of the 7 days-to-go mark for our Letting Go Roundtable & Anthology Launch, we’re sharing this article from Anna Levin, our Third Letting Go Online Writer-in-Residence (OWRs).

“Poems are little miracles, to contain something so vivid in a container of so few words. You have to find time for miracles.”

What makes a poem a poem? Is it the rhyme scheme? The shape of the stanzas on a page or is it something deeper? A sudden spark of feeling, a lingering phrase that resonates long after you’ve read it?

In her beautiful new piece, What’s a poem?, writer Anna Levin shares her personal journey with poetry. From a place of feeling “stung and out of my depth” by rigid definitions, Anna recounts how she learned to let go of the pressure to “solve” a poem like a crossword puzzle, eventually rediscovering the joyful, fearless poet she had always been as a child.

You can read Anna’s full piece below

Anna’s journey of stripping away the rules and rediscovering a creative sense of self perfectly mirrors what we are celebrating next week.

After reading and reflecting, why not try Anna’s Writing Prompt?