Tag Archives: B. Elizabeth Beck

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

Ekphrastic Writing with B. Elizabeth Beck

Accents Publishing in partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning is proud to offer Ekphrastic Writing: How to Never Face a Blank Page Again with B Elizabeth Beck

This workshop will detail the ekphrastic process and provide prompts that will serve you whenever you face the blank page. Elizabeth will guide you to respond to visual and musical prompts, based upon Painted Daydreams: Collection of Ekphrastic Poems, Dancing on the Page, and Swan Songs. A fun, engaging workshop that celebrates all forms of art.

B. Elizabeth Beck is the author of five collections of poetry, including Mama Tried (Broadstone Books), winner of the American Book Fest Prize for Poetry. She is the author of the Summer Tour Trilogy. Under the Elm placed as finalist for the Book Excellence Awards. Swan Songs is her debut collection of short stories. She was a finalist in the Kentucky State Poetry Society Grand Prix Prize and has been nominated several times for the Pushcart Prize. Elizabeth is a recipient of The Kentucky Foundation for Women grant. Her work appears in journals and anthologies, including Poetica Magazine, Appalachian Review, Limestone Blue, and Harvard Education Press. Elizabeth founded two poetry series, Teen Howl and Poetry at the/ˈtā-bəl/ in Lexington, Kentucky. For more information about Elizabeth: www.elizbeck.com

Thursday, January 22, 6-8pm
Online
$40

Register at https://bit.ly/Ekphrastic_Writing

Painted Daydreams (Accents Publishing, 2019)

Poet B. Elizabeth Beck answers questions about Painted Daydreams (Accents Publishing, 2019)

Tell us the story of your Accents Publishing book. 

This book took ten years to research and write. I have studied and taught Art History for years, so this was a natural book for me to write. Art is my passion. To combine everything I love was a joy.

 

Do you still like it? Why or why not? 

I do still like it and am especially proud of the research notes included at the back of the book. Of course, I cannot take credit for the perfect formatting of those notes. Jay McCoy is such a good friend. He organized that work for me because he’s kind and generous and knows how to do these things correctly”.

 

What is the highest praise you’ve received for it? 

Matt Hart, a professor at the Art Academy in Cincinnati called my poems, “formally diverse and kaleidoscopically (allusionistically!) rich ekphrastic poems.” I consider that high praise!

 

What didn’t make it in the book? 

Interestingly, every poem that isn’t in this book didn’t make it. What I mean is that I wrote this collection while I was writing my first two books which were NOT art history books. Painted Daydreams was my escape while I was writing about very difficult poems. This was my book of joy.

 

Is there a poem from the book you’d like to share with the readers of the Accents blog?

 

In ancient Greece, Sophists

 

measure the existence of truth

as individual not universal; not absolute

Aristotle’s father and my grandfather

both physicians, yet Plato’s student blessed

with orphanage, blasphemous words

unless spoken by an insignificant girl.

I do not have the Oedipus privilege of gouging

my eyes I need to read Aristotle’s writings

on nature making him the world’s first scientist

 

when I am the last to understand and only learned

through Whitman’s leaves of grass transcendental

truth. I revere martyrs like Socrates executed

for corrupting youth and Holden Caulfield whose

merry-go-round Odyssean journey searching

an oracle in Phoebe futile; although the sentiment

 

appreciated as I practice Plato’s philosophy

of aesthetics, a branch he invented I teach

as an excuse to day dream in paintings

drenched in exuberance Van Gogh graces

the pages of the art history text I leaf ahead

(abandon Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) to look

at starry nights and potato eaters, again.

 

 

How did you arrive at the title? 

The title evolved from what I call Van Gogh’s paintings. I have been daydreaming in his art since I was seven years old.

 

Do you have a favorite Accents Publishing book (other than yours) and if so, which one? 

My favorite Accent Publishing book is “The Occupation” by Jay McCoy. His poems are stunningly brilliant.

 

What would you like to see Accents do going forward? 

Please continue to publish these beautiful books. Most importantly, please continue fostering writers. Without Poezia, I would never have published. I have learned so much about writing from being part of the Accents Publishing family.

 

What are you working on now?

I have just finished writing a novel about a young man named Sam who meets a group of kids and goes on tour with Phish. The working title is “Summer Tour”.

 

Share a poem, or at least a sentence from your new writing. 

“We were a new generation of seekers, intent in preserving the beauty of freedom from the Grateful Dead culture into a new evolution. Where it would lead was yet to be found, a fact that incited pure adrenaline; anticipation to join in what would be a remarkable slice of reality shaped between a guitar, bass, keys and drums performed by four ordinary dudes with extraordinary ideas. The fact that this tribe had found me and dragged me into this journey seemed destined. I couldn’t wait to swim among the sea of thousands of other like-minded people. I was ready for all things.”