Poets Offer Thoughts on Personal Freedom in New Anthology

More than 50 writers from around the world contributed to Personal Freedom, Orenaug Mountain Publishing’s 10th poetry anthology, edited by Sandy Lee Carlson, managing partner and poet laureate emerita of Woodbury.

In light of the current political climate in the United States, many of the poems echoed the values and rights of the people bestowed by the Constitution. Other poets wrote about the topic in a way most meaningful to each of them, where they are.

As Carlson writes in her introduction to the collection: “Personal freedom is not a uniquely American idea; it is a universal one enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood’
(un.org).”

Among the international contributors, there is one poet each from Canada, Georgia, Italy, Nigeria, and Turkey, two from the Virgin Islands, three from India, and four from the United Kingdom.

Among the participants from the United States, there is a single poet from Arkansas, California, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Vermont, two from Texas, three from New York, five from Massachusetts, and 29 from Connecticut.

Personal Freedom is available through the Lulu bookstore, and most easily accessible by visiting the Orenaug Mountain Publishing website, where you can learn more about the collection, read a sample, and watch a virtual reading.

Orenaug Mountain Publishing has brought groups of international poets together for other collections, as well, including We Are Here (poems about place), Who’s Spirits Touch (poems about love), and Winter Glimmerings (poems about the season).