August 27, 2019: JKZ’s poem, “This Is the End of Winter, This Is the Beginning,” won the E.E. Cummings Prize from the New England Poetry Club. Go to the “Poetry” page on this website to read it.

July, 2018: JKZ’s poem,“Listen to the Deer Tick Sing,” has been published online by American Life in Poetry, a site curated by Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004-2006. This is a persona poem (i.e., written in the first person, but from the point of view of an individual other than the author). The page also includes commentary on the poem by Ted Kooser. Here’s the link: Deer Tick

July, 2018: In December, 2017, JKZ’s poem, “Fog on the 180 (Kings Canyon)” won the Edwin Markham Prize for Poetry from Reed Magazine. Here’s the link to the Contest Winners page, which includes commentary on “Fog” by the contest’s judge, Ellen Bass:  Reed   And here’s a link directly to the poem itself: FOG

Ellen Bass’s commentary on “Fog”:

“James K. Zimmerman’s “Fog on the 180 (Kings Canyon)” is a haunting poem. Its language, with its repetitions and paradoxes, skillfully evokes the fog and captures the experience of seeing trees emerge from the mist. This well-chosen diction, along with the music of the lines, creates a feeling of mystery that matches its theme. From its intriguing opening stanza (to begin with/there is nothing there/to begin with), I was carried along effortlessly, again matching the travel in the poem. It was a pleasure to choose “Fog on the 180 (Kings Canyon)” as the winner of this year’s Reed Magazine Edwin Markham Poetry Award.”

11/1/16 — The Poetry Foundation, one of the premier organizations for poetry & poets, has posted “The Emptiness of Thought” — from “Little Miracles” — on its website as the Poem-of-the-Day.  You can read the poem here:  Poetry Foundation profile

5/14/16 — “Family Cookout”, the title poem of the book “Family Cookout” — winner of the Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Competition from The Comstock Review — has been posted as a featured poem in the May issue of Winning Writers.  Here’s the link:  Winning Writers

4/18/16 — A video of the reading at St. Francis College on 3-16-16 is now posted on YouTube:  Reading at St. Francis College

4/1/16 — Thanks to Vallum for selecting the poem, “Epiphany”, as their poem of the week on 2/29/16.  You can read it — or listen to JKZ reading it aloud — Vallum.

 

2/23/16 — A review of “Little Miracles” has been posted on the website of Editions Bibliotekos, written by Gregory Tague, professor at St. Francis College.  Please read it here.

 

12/23/15 — James K. Zimmerman’s book of poetry, “Family Cookout”, has won the Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Award from The Comstock Review.

 

And here’s a link to an article about the connections between neurobiology and the creative process, originally published in ASEBL Journal:  The “Beyond-Selfness” of Poetry.

 

Check out the “Poetry” page for links to other poems and readings posted online.