Tag: Writing

  • The Serendipity of David Sedaris and Evidence of Flossing

    The April 2018 Calendar of Events from Bank Square Books (above) features the April 15th Book Signing for our book Evidence of Flossing side-by-side with the April 14th performance by David Sedaris. In a little twist of serendipity, the first book I ever bought from Bank Square Books – the book that literally saved my…

  • 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…

  • Exploring Mindfulness

    I. A Meditation on Bugs I hadn’t walked five minutes up the trail before they ambushed me. A swarm of gnats dropped down in front of my face like a thin, black veil. Two flies laid claim to my ears—bzzzzzzzzzzzzzing in stereo. Their siege left me breathless—afraid to inhale. My swatting—swat, buzz, swat, buzz, swat,…

  • Ingram Publisher Selects…Evidence of Flossing

    Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind was featured in the January 2018 issue of INGRAM ADVANCE as part of their Publisher Selects section. Check it out!

  • The Importance of Retreat

    BUG OUT! That’s what they called it on the TV show M*A*S*H. The enemy is getting closer, someone yells “Bug Out!” and everyone, everywhere packs up everything and bolts! I use the same word, often, when it’s time to get away for a while. BUG OUT! You know that feeling, right? You’ve been working really…

  • 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 pictures that speak volumes about what we leave behind. ” – Christopher Liccardi >> CLICK HERE to read…

  • BOOK REVIEW by Rita Kowats, Spirituality Without Borders

    “Jen Payne’s book, Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind, carries prophetic power in the spaces between its words. It is truth and beauty delivered to us in wide-eyed wonder by a child’s heart passionately in love with nature.” – Rita Kowats, Spirituality Without Borders >> CLICK HERE to read the full review. This review…