What’s the News in Poetry? New Editor Nancy Haskett
By Karen McAferty Morris, National Letters Chair
and Lynn Hansen.
Nancy Haskett is devoted to poetry. Since joining the NLAPW in 2012, she has been published several times in The Pen Woman and on the website, has received numerous awards in our Biennial contests (including three first-place wins in 2016), and most recently was a finalist in our first cross-genre competition (along with fellow Modesto Branch member, artist Chellah Gonsalves).
All the way from junior high to her current writing group, she has been writing poetry about family, nature, outdoor activities, hobbies, travels, and current issues. Haskett and two other fellow Modesto branch members, Lynn Hansen and Louise Kantro, call their writing group the Sestina Sisters, as all three have received first-place awards in the Biennial Sestina category. Her “sisters” note that her getaways to Yosemite and her annual visits to Oregon are frequent poetic topics. Haskett attributes the motivation for continuing to write poetry to her Sestina Sisters group.
After a 34-year career of teaching eighth-grade English, she retired in 2011 and still remembers the thrill of having her first poem accepted as Poem of the Week in November 2012 (called “November, 1963”). In 2022, Haskett published her collection, “Shadows and Reflections.”
She worked closely for a smooth transition with Claire Massey, immediate past poetry editor, and looks forward to getting to know members as they submit their work. Peruse the poetry page of these issues of The Pen Woman to read some of her work: Summer 2024, Summer 2021, and Spring 2020. A warm and grateful welcome to this dynamic and talented new poetry editor!
Send your poetry to Nancy Haskett at poetryeditor@nlapw.org. She also urges everyone to sign up for the blog (see the bottom of the nlapw.org homepage) so you can receive notice of new online poetry posts to enjoy and to support our poets.