Category: Photography

  • Finding Inspiration

    Finding Inspiration

    When I told a friend last spring that I was writing a poem a day for National Poetry Month, she asked me how I found the inspiration for 30 poems. “It’s like rummaging around in a junk drawer,” I told her. “You’re bound to put your hands on something!” And sure enough, one April, I…

  • BOOK REVIEW by Writer Juliana Lightle

    “Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind provides an unexpected metaphor for individual life, culture, and so much more. Nearly all the poems are accompanied with a photograph, often of trash in which lays a dental flosser (yes, one of those instruments with which you floss your teeth) with date and location. Flossing is supposed to…

  • BOOK REVIEW by Writer Christopher Liccardi

    “I have to say, this book not only struck a nerve but felt more relevant with each page I read. Jennifer has captured the seemingly inexhaustible supply of humanity in a collection of poems and street photography that speak volumes about what we leave behind.” – Christopher Liccardi >> CLICK HERE to read the full…

  • BOOK REVIEW by Poet Joss Burnel

    “Not only will Jen make you feel, think and ponder your own walk through life, but her book has photography that will do the same. Poetry as social commentary has a long history of impacting our world…” – Joss Burnel, Depth of A Woman (Photo ©Jen Payne) EVIDENCE OF FLOSSING: What We Leave Behind Jennifer…

  • BOOK REVIEW by Author Mary O’Connor

    “Poet by nature and street photographer by perspective, author Jennifer Payne turns to the curious thematic image of a flosser to make an arresting statement in her new book about our world and about how, in so many ways, we influence its being. The thought of marrying a cast-off dental apparatus with such discordant thoughts…

  • BOOK REVIEW: Nicole Pyles Reviews Evidence of Flossing

    “I was so impressed with this book. It conveyed a beauty and yet sadness at the same time. I could sense the spiritual struggle within the poetry and a reflection of the world around (and the masks society often puts forward). This book is definitely a conversation piece and I can’t wait to share it…

  • Words, Crazy Words Reviews Evidence of Flossing

    “Payne’s other work as an essayist is evident in many of the narrative poems. Strong sense of place and point of view carry the individual poems as a cohesive whole. This collection is one I will turn to again and again. I anticipate greater appreciation for this thoughtful collection each time.” – Tara Huck, Words,…

  • WOW! Women on Writing Interviews Jen Payne

    by Crystal J. Casavant-Otto from WOW! Women on Writing CRYSTAL: First of all, congratulations on your book Evidence of Flossing! What was the first book you fell in love with? And why? JEN: There are two books I remember loving as a kid. One was The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. It’s about four…

  • A Poet Learns…

    by Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper (Arts Council of Greater New Haven) Jen Payne remembers the first one that she saw. And the one after that. And after that. Tiny, single-use dental flossers, discarded in parking lots, and beaches, and wooded hikes around her hometown of Branford. Each cast off in nature with no…

  • A Way with Words…

    By Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer, Shore Publishing No doubt about it, Jen Payne has a way with words. From her place among invitation-only Guilford Poets Guild to her newest book, Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind, the shoreline author and artist brings together words and images to champion the natural world and remind…

  • Blogging as a Creative Tool

    REPRINTED FOR THE 8th ANNIVERSARY OF OUR WRITING BLOG RANDOM ACTS OF WRITING One of the most inspiring art exhibits I’ve seen in recent years was called “Suddenly This Overview.” On display at the Guggenheim in New York, it featured 250 small sculptures by artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss. The sculptures were made of…

  • Finding Inspiration

    When I told a friend last spring that I was writing a poem a day for National Poetry Month, she asked me how I found the inspiration for 30 poems. “It’s like rummaging around in a junk drawer,” I told her. “You’re bound to put your hands on something!” And sure enough, in April, I…