Tag Archives: Accents Publishing

What’s Line Got to Do With It? Poetic Technique Beyond Lineation with Jay McCoy

Hey Poets! You don’t want to miss this Accents Craft Original session with Jay McCoy!
https://bit.ly/beyond_lineation
Thurs, March 12, 6-8pm
Online
$40

In this workshop, participants will explore poetic devices beyond the lineation toolkit or completely outside of it. While we will focus on writing the prose poem, we will touch on haibun, monostich, concrete, and various types of erasure work as well. The workshop will conclude with timed prompts for participants to try out the discussed techniques with an opportunity to share.

Jay McCoy is the author of The Occupation (Accents Publishing). Born and raised in eastern Kentucky, he now lives in Lexington. Jay is the Director of the Kentucky Book Festival and an adjunct professor at EKU and BCTC teaching first year writing, creative writing, and Appalachian studies. He co-founded the Teen Howl Poetry Series and is co-host of the Kentucky Writers Roundtable on RadioLex.

Lisa Miller and WOE & AWE

Headshot of Lisa Miller

Tell us the story of your Accents Publishing book, WOE & AWE.

Katerina’s Poetry Bootcamps made me do it! I don’t know if it’s possible to develop writing skills without the constructive criticism and support of community; without Katerina’s mentorship, I’d still be looking up the meaning of fancy poetry terms like “enjambment”  and “caesura” and “quatrain.” This is the story of Woe & Awe‘s unfolding—it’s voice and physical body in the world are a result of slow writing-muscle growth.

What do you like most about it?

I love how art, whatever its form, allows the-something-greater-of-life to be expressed through human beingness and is so often a balm for the ailing human spirit. When I’m struggling, making art for its own sake and spending time in nature, brings me home to myself. Woe & Awe is a raw and honest poetry memoir about hardship and healing. I really like that the work helps others to see their own stories of perseverance and the unrelenting green of hope. Yes, shit happens, but it’s not all that happens. And anyway, everyone knows that shit is fertilizer.

What did you have to overcome in order to finish and publish a book?

I overcame the inner critic, some poetry craft learning curves, and then several vulnerability hangovers after it was published.

What do you hope people learn/receive/experience from reading your book?

Here’s my sincere-corny-effective response to this question: I hope readers are encouraged to look at their own stories as interesting chapters so far—whatever the details—and realize that what comes next is yet to be written. Write it.

What was your favorite interaction with a reader and/or a fan?

I find the microphone intimidating and have felt supported throughout Kentucky, promoting the book. I had my first drunk-heckler last year and he yelled things like: “Yah! You tell it like it is, girl!” and “That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!”, and I hope this will happen to me at least once a year from now on.

What are you working on now? Catch us up one significant event in your life since the publication of WOE & AWE.

It was both the Accents Poetry Bootcamp 2023, and the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop 2023, that made me realize I want to formally learn what I don’t know that I don’t know about poetry, so I applied to the MFA program at Spalding in Louisville, and graduated in November 2025. My first book is full of Bootcamp and first semester work; my graduating thesis is a second poetry collection (still evolving). Through a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, I facilitate art-making and poetry-writing in under-resourced communities of women in Kentucky; I‘m certain that Woe & Awe and my MFA credential have helped open that door.

Front Cover of Woe & Awe

B. Elizabeth Beck and SWAN SONGS

Headshot of B. Elizabeth Beck

Tell us the story of your Accents Publishing book, SWAN SONGS.

Swan Songs was originally a braided manuscript, weaving poetry and stories. I submitted it to Katerina, who liked the stories to stand alone. She and I worked to edit and polish the stories for publication. In the meanwhile, I submitted the poems to Rabbit House Press, who published them in a collection called Dancing on the Page. I feel very fortunate both publishers trusted my work and did such a wonderful job with the books.

What do you like most about it?

Swan Songs is a feminist collection. The stories detail women’s relationships with themselves and others and are political in nature. Each story is framed by a musical artist. The stories are not about the artists, they work as a framing structure and extended metaphor. It was such a delight to research the music to write the stories.

What did you have to overcome in order to finish and publish a book?

Managing time and committing to a manuscript takes dedication. My books evolve over years. Some were written within months, but the editing process takes years, careful consideration, and excellent editors like Katerina Stoykova to be ready to land in readers’ hands.

What do you hope people learn/receive/experience from reading your book?

I hope that women readers experience that nod of recognition in the authenticity of the stories. I hope that music fans enjoy the way I weave music within the text. And I expect that Phish fans find the Easter Eggs in the collection.

What was your favorite interaction with a reader and/or a fan?

I always feel honored when readers send/post reader pictures. What a delight to see my books in the world.

What are you working on now? Catch us up one significant event in your life since the publication of SWAN SONGS.

I am working on a collection of essays about cooking. I’m in the research phase, offering a writing workshop at the Carnegie Center this spring called: Culinary Love Letter to inspire me to shape my essays with recipes. I’m not sure where it is going, but I’m enjoying the process. I’m still engaged in Ekphrastic Writing and am excited to offer Ekphrastic workshops in January through Accents Publishing and the Carnegie Center as well as workshops offered through the Kentucky Humanities Speakers Bureau.

Is there anything you want to get off your chest about writing or publishing?

The publishing world can be demoralizing so connecting with a writing community is very important. I’m so proud of my monthly poetry series, Poetry at the Table at Kenwick Table. 2026 marks the third year of this series and the community that has developed is incredibly valuable to me. I am proud to report that I have all the features booked for 2026 and can’t wait to meet each month for the inspiration the series provides.

Cover of Swan Songs by B. Elizabeth Beck

GOODBYE, BABY by Gaylord Brewer

Goodbye, Baby, the Gaylord Brewer’s first book of poetry in six years, is arguably his most personal—a taut and elegiac sequence of grief and loss, but also of lambent memory, of gratitude, of joy, delivered with lightning strikes of Brewer’s wry humor amidst his signature brand of darkness.

“This collection is a triumph!” — Kathleen Driskell

Accents Publishing is thrilled and proud to bring this book to you!

For more details, sample poem and ordering information, please visit: https://accents-publishing.com/goodbyebaby.html