Susan Rich's Blog, page 43

It's Not Too Late, It's Just Right -- A Gift of Poetry Classes

Come write with us on Ground Hog Day!It's a fact that I often write better with a writing friend or a group than I do alone. Perhaps this is because the energy of cool writers coming together infuses the atmosphere with creativity and banishes the banality of laundry. In any case, Kelli and I have decided to extend the excitement we have for writing together once a month (a practice we've done for several years) to writing with a small group of other poets. We figured everyone needs a poetic pick-me-up in February and so here's to a new adventure. We hope you'll join us.

I think we have just  7 more spots available, so if you're interested drop me an email at 
srich18 (at) gmail.com and I'll hold your spot while you mail in your check.

PS Why not give yourself a Christmas gift?

Here are some details for you--


Generating New Poems and Sending (Other) Poems into the World


For poets who want to create new poems and submit (more polished) poems to literary journals; this is the class for you.


Join Susan Rich & Kelli Russell Agodon in a 4 hour class of February 2, 2013 which includes writing exercises, how to submit your work and which journals suit you best.

Not only will we discuss submitting your work, but before this class, Kelli & I will have you send us 3-4 finished poems and we will prepare a submission for you-- including a cover letter, SASE, and choose the literary journal best for you.

Let's start the year out right with new poems and also send some older poems into the world, please join us for this class.



Limited to 16 participants

To Register and Have Have Us  Hold Your Space:

Mail your check for $96 (made out to Kelli Agodon) to:
Kelli Agodon
PO Box 1524
Kingston, WA 98346

New Poet (to me) : Pippa Little and Overwintering

Pippa Little, Award Winning Author of OverwinteringI always believe that poets whose work I admire will be admirable people and more often than not, it turns out to be true. This was certainly the case with  Pippa Little whom I met last summer after she won a fellowship to attend my workshop at the Anam Cara Artists Retreat on the Beara Peninsula in the west of Ireland.

Only after we'd been together several days did Pippa quietly mention that her second book of poems Overwintering would be out this fall. And I'm so glad she did. I've been reading and rereading these poems for the pure joy of her language. I've started word lists from the book which include the delectable: eyelash, lipstick, seahorse, and sea-coal (what is sea-coal). And then there are her rhymes: obsidian, vermillion, and pavilion --- all handled with amazing subtly and grace in a villanelle honoring the statue of Franz Kafka in Prague.

Little's work manages to be personal and global sometimes in the same poem. As with all good poems, it's much more a pleasure to read the work then words about the work and so here are two of my favorites.

AXIS

Lying in his last bed
my father remembered his feet
far down in the dark, lost
like a ticket:

cold and soft untouchables
they are forgetting about shoes,
about the metallic lips of the stairs
about the earth's axis.

         Pippa Little

(I've ingested this poem over and over. It only gets better and better.)

And here's another that I keep returning to --- although each time I am surprised.


HOPE

Hope is winter light --
its wordless drench on skin.

Is a button from the button tin
cloudless tone just right
for the coat you're walking in --

hope is a three-toed signal in the snow,
a bird paused here
that's all you know --

hope is a pocket-stone forgotten long ago
found by your hands and known
as corm is married to loam:

is day arriving numb and slow.
Hope is a coat, that's all.

You pace the cracks, each step
a whisper: don't let go
while catching up, behind, that echo,
letting go, letting go.

         Pippa Little

Spend some time with this poem -- especially if you are returning from a walk in the snow. It does the work of beautifully describing the sensation of a journey in fresh snow (both looking inward and outward) and of saying something unsayable about hope. And perhaps loss, as well.


Overwintering is published by Oxford Poets / Carcanet Press. Lucky for me it is available in the US as well as the UK. Highly recommended for your holiday reading. I promise this is a poet we will be hearing more from. She is just getting started. After winning major prizes in England for her first book --- and then taking a decade or so off to raise a family; she is back --- just reaching her full powers.

The Next Big Thing - House of Sky (my forthcoming collection)

Taken Care Of by Nicola Slattery


The Next Best Thingby Susan Rich

I was delighted to be tagged by author Midge Raymond, for this project in which writers answer the following questions about their latest books, and then tag a few more writers who do the same. This is sort of a literary chain letter just in time for the holidays.

Below you’ll find the questions Midge answered about her forthcoming novel, My Last Continent.

And, you’ll soon hear from the fellow writers I’m tagging — Geraldine Mills, Harold Taw, Kimberly Fahner, and Katharine Whitcomb who (hopefully) will answer the same questions about their own Next Best Things!

Below are my answers to these repeating questions.

What is the working title of your book?

House of Sky

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The title comes from two places. First, my writing studio was nicknamed House of Sky by my dear friend, Kelli Russell Agodon and it stuck. The House of Sky is literally the place my writing takes place. However, for me, the second meaning is more important -- that elusive task of trying to build a home in the world --- both global and domestic.


What genre does your book fall under?



This is an easy one - poetry. Of course, poetry is a rather large and wide genre. The book contains many ekphrastic poems (poems based on visual art) as well as poems dealing with new coupledom.




Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?




Emma Thompson, Scarlett Johanson, Johnny Depp, George Clooney --- there's room for everyone in poetry. I can see Salma Hayek as Hannah Maynard quite easily.


What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?


Love in middle age co-habitates with art forms of every age.


How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?


House of Sky is an ongoing process that started three years ago. I will keep adding poems, taking out poems, and revising the book for another year. It's a first draft until it's published.


Who or what inspired you to write this book?


I am interested in finding different ways to keep poems fresh (that makes them sound like milk or eggs). House of Sky is my fourth book and I needed to really ask myself if I still had something new to say. I believe the answer is yes.


What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?


This is my most personal book to date.

Yes, You Can Do Something to Honor the Memory of the Children of Newtown

Read  What You Can Do to Help: The Sandy Hook Massacre at Sharon Greenthall's blog, Empty House, Full Mind. As she reminds us, writing letters (more than emails and petitions) makes a difference. As writers, we know the power of the well crafted phrase. Here's our chance to do something. The resource list she's compiled goes beyond writing your senators and congressional delegates -- although that is the first step. We can make a difference. Don't let the murders of the Sandy Hook elementary students be in vain.

A Reflection on Newtown Tragedy from Canadian Teacher and Poet, Kim Fahner

“Stop all the clocks…” A Reflection on the Tragedy at Newtown, ConnecticutDecember 16, 2012 by kimfahnerSome wouldn’t dare to venture to write something about yesterday, potentially because it could be too soon.  I fear, though, that not speaking about it would be an injustice to those lost to the violence.  As a teacher, this is my worst nightmare.  We practice lockdown drills often at school and it’s hard to get students to realize how real the threat could be.  I often reference Columbine, but then I realize my students were likely toddlers at the time.  The word “Columbine” still sends shivers down my own spine.  It’s the same sort of evil shudder that I feel when I recall the Montreal Massacre each December 6th.  There is no rhyme or reason to violence, especially when it has to do with guns and mental illness.I know many people find the long gun registry issue here in Canada both volatile and controversial, but I have, for a very long time, been in favour of such a registry.  What is the problem with registering a gun? If you’re only using it to hunt, as so many do here in Northern Ontario, then that’s reasonable and you have nothing to hide, really, so why protest the registry?  It’s always puzzled me a great deal as to why there is such an uproar.  I think having a long gun registry was something that made Canada, well, Canada.  It’s a shame, I think, that’s it’s gone now.Don’t get me wrong; we here in Canada have had issues with gun violence, but not to the same extent or frequency as our neighbours to the south in the United States.  We are quite separate from the gun culture that is prevalent in America and I think we need to maintain that distinction, more and more with each tragedy that occurs south of our border.  (I am not naive, though; gang violence is on the rise and the Eaton Centre shooting in Toronto this past summer is proof of that too.)The Montreal Massacre, on December 6th, 1989, is the one tragedy that marks what was my first year of studies as an undergraduate at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. I had just turned nineteen.  I still recall the way the news of that horror, of a man shooting fourteen female engineering students at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, rippled through the halls of my school as people heard of the tragedy.  For many months, female students walked more cautiously, thought more carefully, and felt fear press up against them.  For all that feminism could bring us, it could not stop the bullets that killed those fourteen ambitious young women in Quebec and that was frightening. To continue reading click here

Registration is Open: Hedgebrook at SAM

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Hedgebrook Salon @ The Seattle Art Museum
Saturday, January 12, 1-6 pm
SAM Downtown (map)
Nordstrom Art Studio and Simons Board Room

CLICK HERE FOR EARLY REGISTRATION


Event Description:

Women artists have taken over SAM with the awe-inspiring exhibits: Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou and Elles: SAM . Now SAM and Hedgebrook will come together so women writers can give voice to the art. For one day only, come and engage in creative writing workshops. Choose from two sessons, one led by Seattle poet Susan Rich and one by Hedgebrook Executive Director and playwright Amy Wheeler.




Fueled by playful writing exercises, you'll spend the afternoon in the galleries writing in response to the dynamic artwork, then have the opportunity to share your fresh work in the galleries, surrounded by the art that inspired them. At 5 pm, we'll raise a glass to celebrate women writers and artists. Open to women writers, ages 14 through adult. Co-presented with Hedgebrook.


All tickets include gallery admission, writing workshops and reception.


Early Bird (ends 12/31/2012):
$99 for 1 person

$149 for 2 people


General Admission:

$125 for 1 person

$199 for 2 people


Click here for registration




Group rates available! Email Louise for details.

Hedgebrook Salon at SAM with Amy Wheeler and Susan Rich

Frida Kahlo at the Seattle Art Museum

I'm honored to be teaching a poetry writing workshop at the Seattle Art Museum in support of Hedgebrook on Saturday, January 12th from 1 - 6 pm. This workshop is open to all lovers of art and poetry ages 14 and up. The show  Elle: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou is the inspiration for this salon. Hedgebrook Director Amy Wheeler will also lead a workshop on writing plays and visual art. Writing inspired by visual art is a tradition that begins in Greece, the word "ekphrastic" literally meaning to speak out. Included in the price is a free ticket to see the show as well as a reception. Oh yes, you will also be supporting one of the best writing residencies in the country. 

Information on registering via Hedgebrook included below.



Hedgebrook Salon @ SAM

Saturday, January 12, 1-6 pm
SAM Downtown
Nordstrom Art Studio and Simons Board Room

Women artists have taken over SAM with the awe-inspiring exhibits: Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou and Elles: SAM . Now SAM and Hedgebrook will come together so women writers can give voice to the art. For one day only, come and
engage in creative writing workshops led by Seattle poet Susan Rich and Hedgebrook Executive Director and playwright Amy Wheeler. Fueled by playful writing exercises, you'll spend the afternoon in the galleries writing in response to the dynamic artwork, then have the opportunity to share your fresh work in the galleries, surrounded by the art that inspired them. At 5 pm, we'll raise a glass to celebrate women writers and artists. Open to women writers, ages 14 through adult. Co-presented with Hedgebrook. [Tickets are $125, with discounts for early registration and group rates. All tickets include gallery admission, writing workshops and reception. Contact Hedgebrook for more information: hedgebrook@hedgebrook.org].

Through 12/31/2012:
$99 for 1 person
$149 for 2 people

Starting 1/1/2013:
$125 for 1 person
$199 for 2 people

Contact Louise McKay at louisem@hedgebrook.org for special group rates of 4 or more.

M. Louise McKay, Director of External Relations
HEDGEBROOK
whidbey: 360.321.4786
seattle: 206.325.6773
www.hedgebrook.org <http://www.hedgebrook.org/>

New Journal to Check Out, New Poems to Read

A sundial from the cover of Antiphon

When investigating new journals, I look for art work  that catches my attention, a graphic design that doesn't skimp on form or function. Antiphon impressed me in these categories as well as in the choice of poems the editors selected.

Perhaps I shouldn't admit it, but I had no idea what Antiphon meant when I found this international journal publishing out of England. Now Antiphon is one of my favorite words! Traditionally, an antiphon is a chorus or response of the congregation to a piece of religious music. However, the journal, Antiphon, is not Christian based. A broader meaning of the word includes a call and response as in the case of art responding to art. I like to think of antiphon as a musical echo, a connection of one imaginative rendition speaking with another artistic piece. My poem, Abstract, responds to a painting by Irish artists Julie Aldridge. In poetry terms, it's ekphrastic.

How cool is that for a journal to create an international conversation (poets live in Denmark, England, Ireland, Finland,  the United States) with art in conversation? This online journal is in its second year, but my sense is that it will be around for a long time to come. At least I hope so. Poetry has gone global and there are several journals that are working to let poets in the Netherlands, say, know the work of poets in Mexico or Sri Lanka.

Check out Antiphon, I hope you like it. The editors were a joy to work with; they responded quickly to my work and the publication went live within a month of my acceptance.

 This poem, Abstract, came about last summer while I was in Ireland teaching an ekphrastic workshop at Anam Cara, a lovely writing retreat in County Cork. The assignment I gave my students was to choose a piece of art in the residency that you couldn't understand, a piece of art that asked more questions then it answered. Isn't that where poems come from? More questions than answers...

What Better Way to Spend Ground Hog Day? Generating Poems and Sending (Other) Poems into the World

What better day to write new poems and send finished poems out into the world?I love the idea of planning ahead to the end of winter. By February the cherry trees  begin to blossom in the Pacific Northwest and the scent of sarcococca (something akin to jasmine) rises super strong outside my door. What better time to write poetry?

Kelli Russell Agodon and I have decided to celebrate Ground Hog Day with a poetry writing workshop. Generating New Poems and Sending (Other) Poems into the World will be held in Seattle (South Lake Union neighborhood) 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturday, February 2nd.

The idea came to us at an Irish bar in Nye Beach, Oregon. I scribbled the first ideas on the edge of a napkin. Why not help writers launch their poems into the world? Why not link generating new poems to sending out "finished" poems for publication?

We're keeping the group small and hoping that you'll consider joining us. In the last few hours we've already had several people sign up. Maybe there's something about Ground Hog Day that just seems ripe for creativity? I believe so. Here is the information on our workshop and a link to sign up. All levels of poets invited: beginners to advanced writers welcome.



From the Class Description

Join Susan Rich & Kelli Russell Agodon in a 4 hour class of February 2, 2013 to do writing exercises and spend the last hour discussing submitting your work and answering your questions.

Not only will you discuss submitting your work, but before this class ends, Kelli & Susan will have you send them 3-4 finished poems and they will prepare a submission for you-- including a cover letter, SASE, and choosing the literary journal for you.

If you want to start the year out right with new poems and some older poems out in the world, please join us for this class.

Limit to: 16 participants

Last Week of the Quarter: He Writes, She Writes

And may I add: We All Write Our Own Work or It's Called Plagiarism