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.”
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!
June 16, 2026
Main Street Rag Publishing Company is publishing my newest book Hold Me Still.
https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/hold-me-still-gunilla-t-kester/
Nazim Hikmet: An Ordinary Man, is the subject of my most recent Consequence column. Other past columns are available here.
OfTheBook has accepted two poems: “Threw My Jacket” and “Story of a Painting”.
FOLIO Literary Journal has published my poem “The Secret of Night”.
The Apple Valley Review, a Journal of Contemporary Literature, has accepted my poem, “I Learned to Drink while Doing the Dishes”.
J Journal, new writing on justice, has published my poem “Autumn Shapes I-V” in its current Spring issue.
Artemis Journal has accepted my poem “Gunnar’s Painting” named for my grandfather Enok’s older brother.
Nazim Hikmet: An Ordinary Man
The Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) wanted to be an ordinary man, a man of the people, one of the honest, hard-working proletariat he so admired. After serving twenty-eight years in prison for being a Communist, he was sent into exile. He headed East and took up residency in the then Soviet Union, in Moscow. He was a prolific writer who documented his time in prison, his love for Moscow and his many wives, the boulevards and bridges of Paris, among many other topics. His is a tale of constant restlessness, uprootedness, and deracination countered by his love for nature, for women, and for the future. Everything will be equal after the revolution, we used to say when I was growing up. Hikmet dreamt of a future world where perhaps he, too, could be equal, just an ordinary man.
Continue article here
Buffalo Corner Reading Series
Links to Livestream via Boxcast, Facebook and YouTube at www.shirshalom.org
Current & Upcoming
Abridged, Abstract, After Happy Hour, Apple Valley Review, 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, FOLIO, 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, OfTheBook, 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
