Examples for Examination and Inspiration
The epistolary form can be controversial. In the past, its been deemed less literary than other forms. It can also covey meaning through voices sometimes pushed into the corners of the literary or publishing worlds. We think your authentic voice is the most inspiring one you have. To help support your submissions, we’ve put together a selection of examples of work. It includes works using the epistolary form, as well as other pieces that convey meaning through food. We also highlight eating disorder recovery poems that we have found powerful.
Odes to Food
Ode to The Onion, by Pablo Neruda
The Secret Names of Sugar, by Kirk Schlueterttps://rhinopoetry.org/poems/the-secret-names-of-sugar-kirk-schlueter
Epistolary Poetry
To My Mother's Former Fiancee, by Shradha Singh
To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall, by Kim Addonizio
Dearest Thanatos,by Traci Brimhall
Dear Desert, by Sarah Burke
To the Four Spiders Statistics Says I Will Swallow in My Lifetime, by Chiara Di Lello
What the Living Do, by Marie Howe
Epistolary Essay
Epistolary Weaved with Birds and Grass After Long Hospital Stay, by Sean Thomas Dougherty
To the Bear We Didn't Find, by Emily Lowe
To the Woman Who Spared Me an Orange, by Sarah Menkedick
To a Duck in the Garden of Ninfa, by Chelsea Hodson
Metaphors of Food
Oatmeal, by Galway Kinnell
The Consolation of Apricots, by Diane Ackerman
Meditation on a Grapefruit, by Craig Arnold
Butter, by Andrea Cohen
Hybrid Prose Poem/Essay
The Beautiful One, Not Yet Born, by Harmony Holiday
Recovery Poems
Relapse, by Blythe Baird (Spoken word video)
Autobiography, by Brandi Bird