Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 131

When light verse is right verse

 

“Middleage is when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night and the telephone ringsand you hope it isn't for you.” – Ogden Nash

 

          Born on this date in 1902, Nash (whodied in 1971) was known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces.With his unconventional rhyming schemes he was declared by many critics andfellow poets alike as the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry.   For Saturday’s Poem(s), here are a fewexamples of Nash’s poetic musings.

 

                                 A Word to Husbands

                                To keep your marriage brimming
                                With love in the loving cup,
                                Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
                                Whenever you’re right, shut up.

 

     Celery

             Celery,raw
         Develops the jaw,
       But celery, stewed,
     Is more quietly chewed.

 

                                A Flea and a Fly in a Flue

    A flea and a fly in a flue

                            Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
                                Said thefly, "let us flee!"
                                     "Let us fly!" said the flea.
                                So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

 

         Morning Prayer

    Now another day is breaking,
    Sleep was sweet and so is waking.
    Dear Lord, I promised you last night
    Never again to sulk or fight.
    Such vows are easier to keep
    When a child is sound asleep.
    Today, O Lord, for your dear sake,
     I'll try to keep them when awake.

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A Writer's Moment: When light verse is right verse

A Writer's Moment: When light verse is right verse:   “Middle age is when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night and the telephone rings and you hope it isn't fo...

A Writer's Moment: Writing 'the wonder and the challenges'

A Writer's Moment: Writing 'the wonder and the challenges':   “Through my writing, I have made new friends and continued to learn about this world of ours in all its wonder, with al...

Writing 'the wonder and the challenges'

 

“Throughmy writing, I have made new friends and continued to learn about this world ofours in all its wonder, with all its challenges.” –Sonia Levitin

 

Levitin was born in Germany on thisdate in 1934 and survived the horrors of the Holocaust before beginning her writing career.  She has authored 43 books and 5 plays – primarily for a young adultand children’s audience --   and usually focused on courageous characterswho "takecharge" in order to overcome difficult challenges and obstacles.

 

Also an artist, her expressionistpaintings have been displayed to critical acclaim in numerous art exhibits.  But, of course, it’s her writing thatcontinues to shine – something she determined to do as she recovered from thehorrors of World War II.

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“When I was only eleven years old, Idecided to become a writer,” she said.  “I told this ambition in a letter to Laura Ingalls Wilder (and) the diewas cast. How could I go back on my word?”

 

 

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A Writer's Moment: 'Writing out of experiences'

A Writer's Moment: 'Writing out of experiences':   I write with experiences in mind, but I don't write about them, I write out of them. – John Ashbery Langdon Hammer, chair of the...

'Writing out of experiences'

 

I writewith experiences in mind, but I don't write about them, I write out of them. – JohnAshbery
Langdon Hammer, chair of theEnglish Department at Yale, said in 2008 that  "No figure looms so large in Americanpoetry over the past 50 years as John Ashbery" and "No American poethas had a larger, more diverse vocabulary, not Whitman, not Pound.”  

Born in New York in the summer of 1927, Ashbery (who died in 2017) had 29 volumesof poetry published, earning every major award for the genre’, including a Pulitzer Prizefor Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror.   In 2012 he wasinducted into the New York Writers Hall of Fame.
As poet and criticMelanie Rehak wrote in reviewing one of his books, “…reading an Ashbery poem isalso a little bit like being let loose inside a house of mirrors —things don’talways make sense on the surface, but on some gut level, you know you’re stilllooking at yourself, which is about as much as you can hope for.”
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One key to his success was his effortto write for everyone and make the work as accessible as possible.  “I don’t want my poems to be a privatedialogue with myself," Ashbery said.   "I don’t look onpoetry as closed works.   Ifeel they’re going on all the time in my head and I occasionally snip off alength to share.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Writing with care, imagination and craftsmanship'

A Writer's Moment: 'Writing with care, imagination and craftsmanship': "A good writer can set a thriller anywhere and make it convincing.  The trick is to evoke the setting in such a way that it highlights...

'Writing with care, imagination and craftsmanship'

"A good writer can set a thriller anywhere and make it convincing.  The trick is to evoke the setting in such a way that it highlights the crime or unsettles the reader."  –  Garry Disher Born on this datein 1949, Disher was raised on afarm in South Australia and set his sights on a writing career while still in elementary school.   He said he was influenced by his love of reading – something he encourages all writersto do religiously – and  his father’s bedtimestorytelling. 
After studying at Adelaide University, he worked abroad and traveled widely beforereturning to Australia for his master's degree and start his writingcareer.  His success with short stories led to a prestigious creative-writing fellowship at Stanford University.      
A full-timewriter since 1988, he’s published 55 books ranging from general/literarynovels (Steal Away) and crimethrillers (Wyatt) to storycollections, fiction for children and teenagers, and creative writing handbooksand texts.  He's also a noted writing editor and teacher,
 “Ihave no favorite genre or style but treat each novel with the same care, imaginationand craftsmanship,” Disher said.  “It'sas difficult to write a crime or a children's novel with a touch of style andgrace as it is a literary novel.”

'I just happen to be an author'

 

“My jobis essentially that of an entertainer, no different to that of a musician, nodifferent to that of an actor. I just happen to be an author.” – BryceCourtenay 
Courtenay was born this date in 1933 and became one ofAustralia's best-selling authors, although most of his fame came from hisSouth African-based book The Power of One.   Published in 1989 and  - despite Courtenay's fearsthat it would never sell - The Power ofOne quickly became one of Australia's best-selling books by any livingauthor. The story also was released as a film and in a children'sedition.
The author of 23 books, Courtenaywas a careeradvertising director and helped build his own success by developing a relationship with readers as much asby marketing his books.  For instance, he gave away up to 2,500 books eachyear to readers he met in the street.
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Courtenay, who died in 2012, wrote many his works from first personnarrative allowing the reader to put himself or herself into the lead role.  “Ilike to share my thoughts and perspectives,” he said.  “And remember, the only thing that's authentic aboutwhat a writer writes is his work. Everything else belongs to us all.”

A Writer's Moment: 'I just happen to be an author'

A Writer's Moment: 'I just happen to be an author':   “My job is essentially that of an entertainer, no different to that of a musician, no different to that of an actor. I just happen to be ...