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Soulscapes

poems by Lee Woodman

Soulscapes, the fifth volume in Lee Woodman's “scapes” series, is an exploration of the way we reach for godliness or soul in our lives and relations. As a seeker who admits, discovers, and ponders all gods, the poet has been influenced by aspects of many faiths—Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Judaic, Native American, as well as worldwide tribal beliefs; and she has investigated many areas of spiritual belief and practice—origin stories, spirit animals, tarot, witchcraft, the occult, past lives, lucid dreaming. The poems in this collection express Woodman's dedication to the exploration of both the scientific fact-based world and the magical, mysterious unknown as elements of an ever-growing faith in the oneness of the universe.

POETRY / General

ISBN: 978-1-962082-20-4 (print; softcover; perfect bound)

LCCN: 2023950771

92 pages

Author Biography

Lee Woodman is the author of the “Scapes” poetry series and winner of 2023 IPA, Independent Press Award, for Distinguished Favorite in Poetry. She is also winner of the 2020 William Meredith Prize for Poetry, the 2021 Atlantic Review International Poetry Competition Merit Award, and First Prize in Poetry and Prose Contest for Carve Magazine 2022. Her essays and poems have been published in Tiferet Journal, Zócalo Public Square, Grey Sparrow Press, The Ekphrastic Review, vox poetica, The New Guard Review, The Concord Monitor, The Hill Rag, Naugatuck River Review, and The Broadkill Review. A Pushcart nominee, she received an Individual Poetry Fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities FY 2019 and FY 2020, and a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship in March 2022. Her poetry collection, Mindscapes, was published by Poets’ Choice Publishing in 2020, Homescapes in 2020 by Finishing Line Press, Lifescapes by Kelsay Books in 2021 and Artscapes by Shanti Arts in 2022. Woodman has been a featured guest on numerous radio shows and podcasts, including The Authors Show, Goodnews Broadcasting, Ron Van Dam, Steve Maggi, Cyrus Webb, and Cover to Cover Book Beat with Roger Nichols.

Endorsements

“In Lee Woodman’s poetry, humans, animals, goddesses, witches, ghosts, the moon, trees, and tarot cards all tell a story. ‘Mysteries prevail, miracles happen’ in these poems that explore death and reincarnation, extrasensory consciousness, personal relationships, and fascinating natural phenomena. Woodman clearly has conducted deep research and offers factual tidbits that buttress the reader’s sense of wonder. The poet probes the different kinds of endings that unfold around us, whether it’s the withering of cherry blossoms or the death of an orca calf, with its mother in a heartrending act of grief. Woodman declares, ‘I sense other ways of knowing,’ and we are the fortunate beneficiaries of her penetrating, beautiful insights.”
—Zeina Azzam, Poet Laureate of the City of Alexandria, Virginia

“Lee Woodman’s Soulscapes is a transformative journey for both speaker and reader. Anchored in beautiful formal movements—sonnets, pantoums, villanelles—and moving ekphrastic poems grounded in visual and musical art, Soulscapes offers readers a chance to ask deep questions. Here Woodman crafts poems as spells and incantations. Her words highlight the sensual movement of the moon, tides, and even the self among varied worldly landscapes. These are poems filled with other voices, ghosts, past lives, and poetic influences. Woodman writes, ‘We break through the wallpaper/ to breathe and tell our histories.’ That is what these poems do. They breathe and break through, sing and paint images, and move through time in overlapping histories of humanity, nature, and spirituality.”
—Emily Holland, editor of Poet Lore

Articles and Reviews

Kirkus Review.

Review, IndieReader (March 15, 2024)  BONUS! Read the interview IndieReader did with Lee Woodman about this book.

Maria Yinks, Review, Manhattan Book Review (December 2023)

Erin Britton, Review, Chicago Book Review (December 2023)