Skillman's poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Threepenny Review, Zyzyyva and elsewhere. She is the author of more than twenty full-length collections of poetry, most recently, A Landscaped Garden for the Addict, Shanti Arts, 2021.
"Taut and restrained, (Skillman’s) poems tell stories in vivid fragments."
-- from The Pedestal Magazine's review of The Truth about Our American Births, by Erica Gross
Forthcoming from Goldfish Press: To Take Us All Home, a sequel to In Our Resemblance, due out this December!
ORDER In Our Resemblance
A mother and daughter share their thoughts and concerns on today's events. This is a timely poetry book on inter-generational communication, love, and sharing in the divisive times we find ourselves. Perhaps only love and respect for each other can save us from the many disasters facing us today. Our very own survival hinges on it.
Haiku, by nature, is reticent; so too is mystery. These poems by Judith and Jocelyn Skillman, a dialogue between a mother and her daughter, are laconic and tender. In the pandemic much has languished, and the poets hardly avert their eyes. Yet, these are seedlings of good stock—as Merleau-Ponty would say, they are new “openings onto the world.”
--Marc Hudson, author, East of Sorrow (Red Mountain Books)
Judith Skillman - Winner of 2021 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Competition Award
One of the absolute best parts of being President of Floating Bridge Press (besides the fame and fortune that comes with running an all-volunteer nonprofit poetry press, of course) is being able to publish and advocate for the work of other poets.
So, it's with great pleasure I announce the results of the 2021 FBP Chapbook Competition! After much deliberation, we chose this year's winner "The Misanthropist" by Judith A. Skillman of Newcastle, and finalist "A Quiet Day with the West on Fire" by Margot Kahn of Tacoma. Both chapbooks will be available in the fall or early winter of 2021….
Available from McFarland’s imprint Exposit Books
When Home Is Not Safe
Even if you haven’t been hurt by domestic violence, someone you know has and wishes they could tell you about it. Perhaps you are a therapist, teacher, academic, or social worker who wants to help those who are suffering. Or maybe you are in an abusive relationship and need to know that you are not alone.
The poetry, memoirs, and creative nonfiction pieces collected here tell of real incidents of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse, as well as of those who left destructive and unsalvageable relationships. The beauty and truth of the language, as well as the honesty and courage on the page, set this anthology apart from self-help manuals and academic treatises on domestic violence. This collection offers a path forward to healing, health, and fulfillment, using the power of art to give voice where voice has been stifled, forgotten, overlooked, or denied.
Great review by Amanda Fields from Literary Mama.
Order from Amazon, Elliott Bay, or McFarland
7 Seattle-area poets to help make sense of the world
Faculty Member, Hugo House
The Sequence
Students will explore their obsessions in order to write a sequence of poems centered on a person, myth, place, or another subject. We rarely write one piece without finding images worthy of investigation. Using Keats’s concept of negative capability, we will “entertain uncertainty.” The sequence can be developed into a chapbook or book-length collection. Prompts will be provided by the instructor. Bring a poem to the first class.
Endorsement: Judith Skillman’s class helped transform my stack of poems into a cohesive manuscript. Judith taught me how to identify themes, obsessions, and reoccurring images in my writing. I learned how to organize these elements into a kind of a symphony – creating movements and motifs, how to harmonize voices and use dissonance in the sequencing of the poems. Throughout the class, Judith provided thoughtful, helpful feedback, both on the manuscript’s strengths and where it needed work. I felt she was invested in my success, and she gave me the confidence to finish the project. I highly recommend Judith’s class to anyone working on a poetry manuscript.
– Julia McConnell, author Landlocked, Michigan State University Press 2023
Winner of the 2022 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize
Online Pubs
Print Publications
Poems have appeared in Poetry & Medicine column of JAMA (click on poem title, not pdf link)
Have a manuscript?
Consultations for poetry manuscripts—full length or chapbook
Client Feedback: “Thank you so much! It is exactly what I needed and more than I could hope for. Your ordering, sections, and themes make so much sense to me, and I also feel like they change the manuscript to reflect more what I wanted to emphasize and come through for the reader. I got very excited reading through it!” — Marilyn Moody, Flat Land
