“American Floss”

Posted on April 15, 2026 • Words by Philip Schaefer • Art by Sarah Odens

Collaborators’ Q&A: Artist Sarah Odens:The bright colors match the bursts of humor that sparkle amid the gloom of the poem. Poet Philip Schaefer: Not sure what I expected, but “floss” seems to do the legwork: frenetically, carefully, abstractly, and compositely.

Sarah Odens is an artist, curator, and Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Exhibitions & Lectures at Auburn University, Alabama. Philip Schaefer‘s debut collection, Bad Summon won the Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize, while his second, Pagan Era, won the Barrow Street Press contest selected by John Murillo and will be available in Fall 2026.

 

Tagged: Angst, Death, Family, Irony, Painting: Acrylic, Parenting / Parenthood, Pregnancy

“Alexis, 2016 – 2024”

Posted on November 3, 2025 • Words by Philip Schaefer • Art by Lisa Sette

Collaborators’ Q&A What inspired you to bring your work to Broadsided? Poet Philip Schaefer: Broadsided published a poem of mine as a broadside over a decade ago, back when I first had the courage to send work out. Publishing with the same journal twice, especially after such a long hiatus, feels a bit like returning to your childhood, like finding a box of letters under a bed you once called home. What drew you to …

Tagged: Death, Family, LGBTIQ+ Artist, Mourning, Parenting / Parenthood, Photograph

“Disappear”

Posted on May 1, 2014 • Words by Philip Schaefer • Art by Maura Cunningham

Collaborators’ Q&A What did you expect a writer to pick up on from “Another Portal”? Artist Maura Cunningham: I had not expectations really, just excited to see what was triggered and how that would be brought into written language. This poem was chosen in response to Maura Cunningham’s painting, “Another Portal”—can you talk about the experience of finding words that were in conversation with the image? What leapt out first from Maura’s art? A particular image? …

Tagged: Painting: Oil, Rural, Switcheroo