Harmonic Convergence of
the Prose Poem
Indianapolis, 2018
Indianapolis, 2018
by Tracy Mishkin
Ten thousand prose
poets, fans, and groupies converge at the Crossroads of America. David Shumate,
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Fogging
the Monocle, keynotes the Convention Center. Just months since Indy hosted
Super Bowl LII Below and Andrew Luck fired a frozen rope to Fleener for the
win. Is the prose poem by nature a revolutionary genre? In Shumate's hands, it
is liquid anarchy. We've seen poems on tractors and football helmets. The
reunification of Korea via prose poem diplomacy. The Theory of Evolution
declared fact by the Southern Baptist Convention. In three months, Time magazine will call 2018 "The
Year of the Prose Poem." For now, we're happy with an autographed Robert
Hass t-shirt and a copy of The Rooster's
Wife.
Bio: Tracy Mishkin is an MFA student in Creative Writing at Butler University. Her chapbook, I Almost Didn't Make It to McDonald's, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2014. She has two poems in Reckless Writing 2013: The Continued Modernization of Poetry and one in Best of Flying Island 2014. She also has a poem forthcoming in The Quotable.