Main Street Rag Publishing Company is publishing my new book, Hold Me Still.
Advanced Sale Discount $10 (+S&H).
Shipment date to be announced.
Discount available for a limited time — order now to save!
Gunilla Theander Kester, Ph.D
FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR, POET, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, CLASSICAL GUITARIST
Gunilla Theander Kester is the author and co-author of seven books, including her most recent collection of poems: Hold Me Still. Other published works include a scholarly study, two poetry chapbooks, one full length poetry collection, and two collections dedicated to the victims of Flight 3407.
Current projects include contributions to Consequence Forum, a growing collection of poetry, and a memoir entitled “Streetness Speaks.”
April 8, 2026
Main Street Rag Publishing Company is publishing my newest book Hold Me Still.
https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/hold-me-still-gunilla-t-kester/
Artemis Journal has accepted my poem “Gunnar’s Painting” named for my grandfather Enok’s older brother.
Capturing the Contrast: the Poetry of Wisława Szymborska, is the subject of my most recent Consequence column. Other past columns are available here.
Please note time change — 7-9 p.m. —for my upcoming event with The Beacon at Boston University, Saturday, April 11. Details below. Hope I’ll see you there!
Please join me for a special poetry reading, Thursday, April 16, at Congregation Shir Shalom, 2660 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY.
Perceptions Magazine has accepted “Seaweed Poetics” for its 2026 issue.
“The Palimpsest” has been accepted by Narrative Northeast, a literary and arts magazine.
Buffalo Corner Reading Series
For information, contact The Buffalo Corner at Congregation Shir Shalom Curator Liz Mariani
Capturing the Contrast: the Poetry of Wisława Szymborska
Should you be lucky enough to survive the war, another war will find you, they used to say at home after World War II. I remember photos of the Trümmerfrauen, the “rubble women,” who cleaned the streets of Berlin and Dresden manually. These women cleared some five hundred million cubic meters of rubble with their bare hands. I remember the many female characters in Heinrich Böll’s novels and short stories who fought an endless war against dirt and dust, often cold, hungry, and alone. I read Polish, Nobel Prize winning poet, Wisława Szymborska in this context. Who has better described wars after wars than she?
Continue article here
Current & Upcoming
Recently published or forthcoming in the following:
Abridged, Abstract, After Happy Hour, Artemis Journal, Atlanta Review, ballast journal, Book of Matches, Call Me [Brackets] University of Alabama Creative Writing, Cider Press Review, Concho River Review, Consequence, The Deronda Review, Doubly Mad Journal,Glint Literary Journal, Great Lakes Review, Hot Pot Magazine, I-70 Review, J Journal, Kestral, Main Street Rag Publishing Company, Narrative Northeast, Naugatuck River Review, Neologism Poetry Journal, New Millennium Writings, Nixes Mate Review, Oberon Poetry, Ocean State Review, October Hill Magazine, On the Seawall, Packingtown Review Journal, Pangyrus, Paterson Literary Review, Pendemics Journal, Perceptions Magazine, Pine Hills Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Plainsongs, Potomac Review, Redactions, Saranac Review, San Pedro River Review, Silk Road Review, Silkworm,Slant, Slipstream, Solstice Literary Magazine, South Florida Poetry Journal, Stone Poetry Quarterly, SWWIM, The American Journal of Poetry, The Beacon, The Citron Review, The Deronda Review, The Inquisitive Eater, The MacGuffin, The Worchester Review, Third Street Review, Tikkun, Trampoline, Viridine Literary, West Trestle Review and Whale Road Review.
Nominated two times for the Pushcart Prize and once for Best of the Net.
Gunilla Kester and Mir Ali perform Yad Kiya Dil Ne
