Poets

 2010. Poet, Literary Critic, Editor of The Best of American Poetry series, and professor at The New School David Lehman in New York, New York
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 2011. Poet Rachel Zolf in Brooklyn, New York. 

  2011. Poet Rachel Zolf in Brooklyn, New York. 

 2009. Poet Ash Adams in Homer, Alaska.

 2011. Poet and editor of the New York Quarterly Raymond Hammond at his home in Brooklyn, New York.

2011. Poet Amanda J. Bradley in Brooklyn, New York.

All Photos © Brian Adams

April is National Poetry Month, so I thought I'd share in the celebration by sharing some of my favorite photographs that I've made of poets in the last couple of years. You'll notice that the earliest photo above is of my wife, Ash, who was the first poet I had ever photographed and who has introduced me to how wonderful, inspiring, and often underrated contemporary poetry can be.

A little bit about each of the poets:

David Lehman is, well, David Fucking Lehman, which is to say that there is honestly just too much I could say about him and yet still not do him justice. Ash could not wait to learn from him. He not only is a celebrated poet and author, but he is also the editor of a book series and accompanying blog I thoroughly enjoy The Best American Poetry, and, from what Ash tells me, an inspiring professor. He was kind enough to meet with Ash and I on a gray, fall day in 2010 to walk around his neighborhood in New York City and to invite us in for coffee and cake with his wife. (She, Stacey Harwood, is pretty amazing, too.) If you're in the city on a Monday, swing by KGB Bar, where every Monday night, 1-2 poets read in a series that was originally started by Lehman. There's a good chance that he'll be there.

Rachel Zolf is a brilliant poet (and person!) who has published four books of poetry and is currently a professor of English at the University of Calgary. Before her other work, Ash first introduced me to her MFA thesis, the Tolerance Project which is an intellectually stimulating project that questions the function of community behind creating art while challenging the current way in which writing programs often "workshop" art. When Ash and I met with her, we spent an afternoon at Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, her choice. Ash and I had already spent afternoons in the cemetery (it is really a sanctuary in the city for people like us), and I was thrilled to have a subject suggest it. She was a pleasure to photograph and meet, and I am hoping that sometime our Alaskan-Canadian highway will bring us together again!

Ash Adams, my beloved wife, is an emerging poet in addition to all of the other things I love about her. I am really too biased to write a thing about her poetry, but I do love everything she writes. She has been published in several literary magazines, and is constantly writing, editing, and reading. I am proud to be her husband.

Raymond P. Hammond is a Brooklyn-based poet, author, and literary critic, and is the editor of the New York Quarterly Journal, a literary magazine that Ash and I both read regularly. I met Raymond on the same afternoon on which I met Amanda J. Bradley, his partner, who attended the New School's graduate program in Poetry with Ash.

Amanda J. Bradley is a Brooklyn-based poet who has published two books of poetry and has been published in many literary magazines and journals. In addition to her MFA in Poetry from The New School, she also holds a PhD in English and American Literature from Washington in St. Louis and teaches literature at Molloy College in Brooklyn. I have not yet read her latest book, Oz at Night, but it is on my list! I thoroughly enjoyed meeting both Amanda and Raymond at their home; something that I love about the homes of all poets and authors is that their homes are lined with what they love--books. It was wonderful to meet another couple united in their artistic endeavors.

To poets everywhere: Happy Poetry Month! Thanks for putting beautiful words into the world.