recognized by the Academy of American Poets as National Poetry Month - as both the sweetest and the cruelest month. For Andrew Bode-Lang, teaching professor of English at Penn State, it's turning out to be pretty sweet.
Bode-Lang was named one of three winners of Rattle literary magazine's 2026 chapbook prize for his manuscript "My Time in the Circus." A chapbook is a collection of thematically linked poems running between 15 and 40 pages. Bode-Lang's manuscript tells the story of a boy who grows up in the circus and plays the part of a clown because he seems to lack the skills needed to fulfill other roles. The boy feels out of place there and tries to figure out where he fits into this fantastical world, Bode-Lang explained.
In the following Q&A, Bode-Lang discussed his chapbook, why poetry is still relevant today and why poetry belongs to humans and not to artificial intelligence (AI).
Q: Can you describe the Rattle Chapbook Prize and share some of the themes of your manuscript?
Bode-Lang: Rattle is a fairly large literary journal by circulation, with 11,000 subscribers. And every year, three poets win this prize, including a poet who has yet to publish a full-length book of poetry - this year, I'm that poet. The prize comes with a $5,000 honorarium, 500 copies of the chapbook and most importantly, distribution of the chapbook to all 11,000 of Rattle's subscribers, which is a crazy reach for any collection of poetry.
The chapbook that I wrote is called "My Time in the Circus." It is a linked series of poems that tell the story of a boy who grows up in the circus. His father is a lion tamer, his mother is an acrobat and his sister trains elephants. And the poor boy is left playing a clown.
Q: Where did you find the inspiration for the chapbook?
Bode-Lang: When I was growing up, my dad loved the circus and clowns in particular. I found it interesting as a setting. I also studied with a poet in undergrad, Jack Ridl, who grew up with actual members of his family who were in the circus. He used to tell me stories about that. So, I ended up having these characters in this setting come to me as a way of exploring a story of this fictional boy. The boy operates within this world where there are a lot of fantastic things going on, and he's trying to figure out what his place is within it all.
I think that all of us are looking for our place in a world that's swirling around us. And when you figure out where you don't belong, where you do belong, that's a good moment for any human being.
