In January 2023, I made a New Year’s resolution to write more poetry. For once, I actually followed through. I wrote quite a bit that year, but most of it was just okay.
What I started to notice was that all of it sounded like me, but not in that beautifully cohesive way where you can tell a piece is by Emily Dickinson or Wisława Szymborska. There was something a little circular about it.
So the following year, I started taking poetry classes and workshops with real, working poets.
I’m not sure if I’ve gotten better, but I do know this: listening to other students’ and poets’ work in the room changed everything.
I started thinking thoughts I hadn’t thought before and feeling things I didn’t expect to feel again. Just from listening to people write about ordinary moments. The kind that light you up, or break your heart, or make you want to live, but on fire.
Life is so rich and dynamic, and also boring and mundane. And you can write about all of it.
So, I created a pen name: Iris Lennox.
This summer, I’ll be publishing a book of poetry under that name. It felt like the right time to start sharing some of that work and to give that voice a little more room to grow.
I also created a website for it:
I’ll be sharing poems and short pieces there as I continue developing this side of my writing.
❤️,
Jill
Jill Szoo Wilson 