Shutta Crum's Blog, page 6

Video of Two Poems by Shutta Crum

If you like poetry readings: here is a link to a 3-minute video of two poems by Shutta being read. Enjoy! And thank you to all who turned out for the book launch. It was a hoot! And so nice to see your faces in person. Below are a couple of pics from the party.

Launching THE WAY TO THE RIVER at Nicola’s Books 6.28.22Attendees doing a writing prompt at Nicola’s Book Launch for THE WAY TO THE RIVER 6.28.22The post Video of Two Poems by Shutta Crum first appeared on Shutta Crum.

An Interview and a Review

Nicola’s Books 6.28.22 at 6:30pm (EDT)

PULP magazine has just published an interview with me and a review of The Way to the River. So pleased. And thank you to Martha Stuit who wrote the piece. (She’s on Twitter @newerwilderness.) You can read the review and the full interview here: https://pulp.aadl.org/node/608387 . Also, I’ll be hosting a book launch at Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor, MI on June 28th at 6:30pm. Please come. There’ll be refreshments, door prizes and a trivia quiz, as well as a book signing.

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Here’s an excerpt from the review section:

Crum’s latest collection of poems, The Way to the River, navigates real and metaphorical waters, from looking for osprey where “Rainwater pelts river water” to recalling tumultuous moments when the poet asks someone terrorizing her, “what door you jimmied / to escape and machete through my memory.” The ever-present passage of time surges through these lines as Crum looks back and ahead. 

The Way to the River begins with the reflection “Why Poetry,” which shares a preface by Crum and her poems, “Aboutness” and “How Poetry Reframes the Moment.” Her depiction of poetry tells us, “Poems are mini stories, fleeting images, quick gestures of recognition and a lilt of music for the soul,” a statement that also aptly describes her poetry. The following poems in the book form the “colorful collage” that Crum sees in poetry. 

The river grounds these poems and is never far away, similar to how people who are near the water’s edge “will breathe in the river damp, / knowing he is out there / where the dark wild closes in,” as the poem, “The Canoeist,” depicts. The poems take us to look at other poetry, such as that of Joseph Brodsky whose “poems are hearty. / Thickened by root and want.” Relationships with other people appear, too, both positive and negative, as “I turn and you are here, beside me, navigating this life. / Mid-current we gaze toward an oil slick. It does not break apart, / sink, / or dissolve.” Hope and delight become apparent in the poems alongside wonder at having “a life woven of such strong silk.” 

Life’s impermanence is also not far away in The Way to the River. In “Paleontology in Such a Land:”

I, too, am a future fossil
of former lives
   of fern damp
   of croakings
   of mindless nights
      clinging
      to the evolutionary tree

Crum brings us to and along and on and around the river where it is “rough going.” She discovers also that “All my loves are entwined,” and then eventually leads us to a poem on swimming in heaven. The temporary nature of life does not limit the depth of experience that the poems reveal, such as in “How to Properly Read a Paper Map,” which instructs, “When you go, dress warmly. / Drive Slowly. / Wave often.” The message to be in the present moment feels clear and important even amidst the ephemeral nature of life.

NOTE: PULP is a publication of the Ann Arbor District Library, 2022.

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Rhetorical Elements Quiz: How well do you know these handy writing tools?

Ready to take a quick rhetorical elements quiz? How well do you know these fun writing tools? Before you take this quiz it’s wise to read up on these literary tools. For a couple of playful articles on rhetorical elements check out these two posts by yours truly at the Florida Writers Association blog:

From May 5, 2022:

(Second article coming soon!)

Sculpting the Shapely Sentence: 5 Techniques

Now, get ready to test yourself.

Shutta Crum: Rhetorical elements quiz.The post Rhetorical Elements Quiz: How well do you know these handy writing tools? first appeared on Shutta Crum.

Poetry Now! Shop Talk with Shutta Crum & Mi-SCBWI

Photo by Trust “Tru” Katsande on UnsplashDate/Time
Date(s) – 05/07/2022
10:00 am – 12:00 pm EST

Poetry Now! Shop talk with Shutta Crum & Mi-SCBWI:

National Poetry Month may be whizzing by . . . but we should celebrate good writing all year long. In that vein the Michigan Chapter of SCBWI (Soc. of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) is hosting a workshop on poetry and on creating sound–no matter what you write: fiction or nonfiction. The info from their site is below. Please join us via Zoom on the 7th of May at 10:00 am EST.

LINK: bit.ly/poetrynow

Poetry Now! (For every writer, not just poets.) Shutta Crum says if you think a poem has to be bouncy and rhyming, you couldn’t be more misinformed. Today, poets are stretching the boundaries of poetry into three dimensions, into novel treatments, and into all sorts of new forms. And if you think studying poetry is just for poets, you’re wrong there, as well. Everything we write should be as tight and as elegant as poetry. Creating soundscapes by using poetic techniques will only enhance our work, whether that’s fiction, non-fiction or some form currently being invented as we speak. So, join us and workshop leader Shutta Crum for an exploration of what these enigmatic things are that we call poems, and how we can make them (and all our writing) sing.

More than 100 of Shutta Crum’s poems have appeared in many literary journals since the 1970s. These include Blue Mountain Review, Typehouse, Stoneboat, Nostos, Main Street Rag, Southern Poetry Review, Acumen and Mom Egg Review. Her first chapbook When You Get Here (Kelsay Books) came out in 2020 and was awarded a gold Royal Palm Literary Award. Her second collection of poems The Way to the River (Kelsay Books) is just out. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Typehouse Literary in 2020. She is, also, the author of thirteen picture books and three novels. Several of the picture books are written in verse including, THUNDER-BOOMER! (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009) a Smithsonian Magazine and an American Library Association Notable Book of the year. And she has two more picture books under contract. For more info: www.shutta.com. Contact info: www.shutta.com Twitter: @Shutta Instagram: @shuttacrum www.facebook.com/ShuttaCrum subscribe: The Wordsmith’s Playground newsletter

Links:

Direct link to zoom session.

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First Review in of The Way to the River by Shutta Crum

Hey, all!

I was excited to read this review in the Florida State Poets Association magazine: OPAP (Of Poets & Poetry). Thank you to Carlton Johnson for a lovely review of THE WAY TO THE RIVER (Kelsay Books). I’ve included a jpg of it below. Enjoy! And if you get a copy from the publisher, let me know what you think! (Soon available online at amazon.)

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The Way to the River

Coming soon!

This second collection brings together many new poems with some older favorites. I hope you enjoy them. Below is “Entwined” from the book.

The post The Way to the River first appeared on Shutta Crum.

An All New Look!

I went white during covid. So why not rock it, a bit?

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New book by Shutta Crum: THE WAY TO THE RIVER…it’s here!

Available to order through amazon or through the publisher’s website, Kelsay Books.

YAY!

Shutta

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New book by Shutta Crum: THE WAY TO THE RIVER…coming late March 2022

More on this soon.

YAY!

Shutta

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Getting Published by Using Duotrope: March 29, 2022 7pm

Hey, all! I’ll be doing a Zoom presentation about getting published by using Duotroupe on Tuesday, March 29 at 7pm. It’s hosted by the North Florida Poetry Hub. I will walk you through some of the many helpful things on the service which indexes more than 7,000 journals, magazine, and small presses. (Note: I am NOT affiliated with the index. I just love it!) If there’s time, we’ll take a brief look at Submittable, as well.

Is Duotroupe worth $50 a year? You bet! Since subscribing more than 2 1/2 years ago, I’ve sold two chapbooks and have had more than 20 poems of mine published in journals. Join us for an informal Zoom presentation. You MUST RSVP to be let in. You can go to Meetup to RSVP or to Facebook Events. They will both want you to sign in and prove you’re human. If you use Facebook Event listing you will need to go back to that FB event page on the day of the event to get the link. I hope to see you there! (And do make sure that the name you RSVP with is the same as the one on your Zoom screen when you log in.)

You MUST RSVP to atttend!

See ya later! (NOTE: Since Covid hit my hair is no longer brown!!! HAH.)

Shutta

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