Susan Rich's Blog, page 65

Anam Cara - Day Five

Damn, I started counting my days here one day late. Today already marks my halfway point which is sad indeed. If you are thinking of coming here, give yourself more time than you think you will need. Getting over jet lag, especially from the west coast will take a few days even in the best of circumstances.

And of course poems don't like to be rushed. Who does? Today I'm scouring old notebooks for abandoned work. It's a lesson I need again and again. Most of my poems start as dreck, as unreadable slosh. There's only a glimmer of what I'm beginning to think.

Yet, if I don't let myself write badly, I will never write at all.

A friend told me of an experiment she read of in the book Art and Fear. Both groups of people were told to make clay pots. One group was instructed to make the best one pot that they could. They worked hard. The second group was told they'd be judged on the number of pots they threw. Pot after pot with little angst over the shape of any one piece. The group that improved the most, that created the best art, (don't ask me how they judged this) was the second group.

Why is it so hard to let myself throw a pile of poems? But that's today's goal. Not to finish anything, not to worry about the calendar waving its pages away.

Of course I'm already cheating by going back through old notebooks and I do it because the new pieces I'm writing feel frightfully bad. But how unfair to judge them in the first minutes after creation. I'd love to know how others allow themselves this initial writing stage with less self-loathing. I think at the moment there has been so little time in my life to write this last year that I'm moving through sludge. I'm hoping that over the next few days something will let go. And even if it doesn't -- I have to admit I'm pretty happy watching the clouds and the cows.

Anam Cara, Day Three

Jack the rescued Jack Russell

Anam Cara, Day Two

Late morning outside my windowSo here I am with the cows and gorgeous village of Eyeries in the distance. What would a visit to Ireland be without the rain? And perhaps the mist is why the houses in Eyeries are painted in bright colors -- all gold and purple and blue. This little village (one tearoom, one restaurant) is currently hosting a gallery show. Sue Booth-Forbes (proprietress extraordinaire of Anam Cara) recently organized a comprehensive show of artists and somehow arranged for every storefront and home on the main road to participate. In one window, three generations of local artists have hung their work. Some of the paintings are for sale, but many are works the artists do for themselves.

My work goes slowly, but I have (nearly) finished a poem that had been hanging around my computer files for a couple of years. I almost like it. And for me, that's pretty good.

The jet lag is playing strange games with my head. After three hours of deep sleep, I woke up and spent from 2 am until 6 am wide awake. A good time to read and write. One Irish poet I've just discovered is Leanne O'Sullivan author of Waiting for my Clothes. As Billy Collins says "A teenage Virgil, she guides us down some of the more hellish corridors of adolescence with a voice that's strong and true." By the age of twenty-one she had won most of the top prizes in Ireland and is also featured in Billy Collin's Poetry 180.

Returning to a country for the third time has all the potency of a third date. Will the relationship go further? Is this the one for me? How will my love be returned? Yes, yes, and we'll see.

On a Writing Retreat at Anam Cara - The View Outside My Window

Anam Cara, West CorkTravel is about intention, not expectation. You throw your body in a taxi, a few airplanes, a giant bus, and a mini van. Why? To see what happens on the other side. After nearly 48 hours of travel, I'm here. I woke up to sun and mountains and sea. This morning I've explored a waterfall, a small island, and met Jack the Jack Russell. Life slows down immensely and leaves the self with the self. Now what happens? For one thing, I am hoping to find my way into new poems, a new way perhaps of approaching poetry. Every few years i find i become tired of my own voice and that's where i am today.

There's still the village of Eyeries to explore and the beach. But for now it's the silence that draws me. Silence mixed with a bit of breeze and the water against stone.

For more information on this heavenly spot you can check out Anam Cara on-line, but trust me it is nothing at all like physically sitting right here.

A few days, a few dollars, a fabulous amount of fun - 3 spaces left

Last December while on a writers retreat faraway from the everyday world of "can't happen" and "not possible," Kelli Russell Agodon and I wondered what if... What if we were to create a writers retreat? How would it reflect our own desires for creativity and community? What if our ideas mirrored the ideas of other poets and writers?

And so here we are, less than two months away from our very first Poets on the Coast. The response has been amazing with women coming to join us from clear across the country, from north and south, east and west. We have women from diverse backgrounds and different stages of life. And we are thrilled.

This Sunday, July 30th, is the last day before our discount rates disappear and we would so love to have everyone get a good deal. The rate jumps up $39 from Sunday to Monday.

We'd love to have you join us. Women who are just dipping a few fingers into the poetry waters and women who are more experienced -- there is a place for everyone on the coast.

For frequently asked questions and to register, just click here...

Poetry of Social Change, thanks to Elizabeth Austen

I love being a guest blogger. It feels like I'm guest starring on "To Tell the Truth" the TV show from childhood or fronting for a new band in town. Today I'm guest blogging for poet Elizabeth Austen, author of the superb book, Every Dress A Decision. Elizabeth asked me to write on the poetry of social change --- the same subject I will be teaching about today at 2:00 pm at Centrum. You can click here to read the post. Elizabeth will also be teaching this week at Centrum on poetry out loud.

Here is the beginning of my post:


Certain luminaries jumped immediately to mind: Carolyn Forche, Allen Ginsberg, June Jordan, Audrey Lourde, Adrienne Rich and Naomi Shihab Nye, for example. That was the easy part. But how to teach how to write a poetry of social change? What does it encompass and why does it matter? Are Brian Turner, Sherman Alexie, and Yusef Komunyakaa also social change poets because of who they are and the specific themes of their work?1. Poetry of social change provides access to a location or cultural concern that is underrepresented not only in poetry, but in the culture at large. Before Carolyn Forche wrote about El Salvador in the 1980's, there was no American poetry that allowed us access into that experience. Brian Turner's Here Bullet has sold thousands - continue

If it's the third week of July, it must be Centrum Writers Conference

Centrum is to July what Thanksgiving is to November. If you live in Washington State, you just need to stop by for a craft lecture, workshop, or reading. Tomorrow afternoon from 2:00-3:30 in Classroom H, I will be teaching a workshop "Poetry of Social Change" and on Wednesday afternoon I will lead "Poetry of Travel." It would be lovely to see you there. Check here for all the information you need.

Elizabeth Austen, Guest Blogger, Poet Extraordinaire

[image error]



Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Elizabeth Austen as a guest blogger for The Alchemist's Kitchen. Elizabeth is the first poet I met when I moved to Seattle almost twelve years ago. Her first full length collection, Every Dress A Decision is just out from Blue Begonia Press. The book is gorgeous and is garnering well deserved attention; here is a review by Kathleen Kirk that will give you a strong sense of why this is a book to read this summer -- and then again and again. In the meantime, here are 4 tips on creating your own residency at home. I'm tempted.






Four Tips for a Virtual Residency

I admit it. I'm addicted to writing residencies. Over the past several years, I've become dependent on leaving home and going somewhere beautiful, away from the fray of daily life, in order to get any real work done on poems. I've written at friends' cabins, B&Bs, Hedgebrook < http://www.hedgebrook.org/ > , and the Whiteley Center < http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/Whiteley/index.html > . What these places have in common—besides the fact that they are all on islands in the Pacific Northwest, but that's a topic for another time—is that they offer me a time-limited respite from the distractions I fail to resist at home. When I leave home for a residency, I put an "out of office" message on my four email accounts, and psychically pack only one of my many "hats": writer.

But the truth is I'm happier when I'm writing more regularly, and I can't always get away for a residency. So when Hedgebrook hosted a virtual residency called "Hedgebrook Writes" over Memorial Day weekend, I decided to give it a try, sort of at the last minute. Hedgebrook alumna all over the world became "writers in residence" in their own homes, and blog posts from several different writers, including Ruth Ozeki < http://www.ruthozeki.com/ > , simulated the crucial "farmhouse table" experience of gathering for dinner at the end of the writing day.

I was surprised at how effective this was, and realized this is something any group of writers could replicate. Based on what worked for me, here are four tips for your own virtual residency:

1.       Set boundaries on the time that are realistic, given that you are not, sadly, off on an island (unless you live on an island).  I designated 6am to noon, three days in a row, for my virtual retreat (yes, I'm an early riser.) Nothing but "writer mind" for those six hours—no email, laundry, blogging, chit-chatting with my sweetheart, etc. If I had planned to participate earlier, I probably could have devoted the whole day, but as it was, this was a realistic set-up, given my lack of advance planning.

2.       Ask the people you live with to pretend you're away on an island during your retreat time. I thought the hardest part of this in-home residency was going to be getting my lovely husband to pretend I wasn't at home, and not to ask if we have any butter in the house or where the tape-measure is. But because he knew when I would be available, it was pretty easy for him to keep his distance. (If this sounds like a no-brainer, you have a different kind of living arrangement than I do…)

3.       Arrange for virtual company.  OK, I realize this sounds contradictory, given #2 above. What I mean is that somehow it was helpful to know that other women were creating virtual residencies in their own homes at the same time. It intensified and focused my energy in a way that felt similar to "real" residencies. Though I only checked in with the Hedgebrook Writes blog once (after my residency hours were complete on the first day), it was still helpful to read how it was going for others, how they were structuring (or deliberately de-structuring) their time. Your writing group could designate a weekend to do a virtual residency together.

4.       Slow down and listen to what your creative process is asking of you right now. One of the best things about writing residencies is getting a chance to work in a deep, sustained way. For me, this has often meant working in a slightly different way—in terms how I approach the generative process as well as what I'm drawn to write about in the first place. This is a deeply pleasurable and renewing experience, but if I'm too caught up in expectations for myself, I might miss the opportunity for something new to present itself.


Much to my surprise, the experience of the virtual retreat changed my relationship to writing at home. It somehow renewed my ability to focus despite being physically surrounded by roles and tasks that call out to be completed. I hope you'll give it a try, and if so, that it will be useful to you, too.

Thank You Oregon Poetic Voices, A Wonderful Resource

Oregon Poetic Voices is a combination plate of both poets and poetics. The poets on this site were recorded from the Mountain Writers Series in Portland, the Fishtrap Writers Workshop, or culled from the fifteen years of weekly interviews conducted by Barbara LaMorticella and Walt Curtis at KBOO radio. On offering are hundreds of poets from Matthew Dickman to b.t. shaw -- both Portland poets; also Kelli Russell Agodon to Kary Wayson -- both Washington State poets. You will also find three poem by me from my reading at Wordstock Festival 2010.


"An Army of Ellipses Traveling Over All She Does Not Say..." is a favorite poem of mine. It was written for my student, Hodan Mohamed. The introduction to the poem explains that I was working on a project, Somali Voices in Poetry, and that this piece is the final one in the series.

Oregon Poetic Voices (OPV) allows you to listen and see the poem. The OPV includes a resource for teachers which is unusually well done. Oregon Poetic Voices is located at Lewis and Clark College. Doug Erikson and Melissa Dalton are listed as the contacts if you want to find out how you can get involved.

Are there other states with such programs? This seems like a wonderful model.

I must confess that I am a little in love with Oregon. This was my first experience living in the Pacific Northwest. I earned my MFA at the University of Oregon MFA program. This was my first time living anywhere (in the United States) other than Massachusetts. And I loved it. I lived in Eugene at an extremely difficult time in my life. When I moved to Oregon, my mother had just died and a year later, my father passed away. During that first year, I knew airplane schedules between Eugene and Boston the way others know city bus routes. The fact that I didn't leave the program still amazes me. I attribute that to a few different things ---one of them was certainly the Oregon landscape. All that green life.

Do-It-Yourself Writing Retreat - Thanks, Midge Raymond!

My friend Midge Raymond is an incredible person. As a publisher, blogger and writer extraordinaire, she continually inspires me. Here's an interesting way to create a writing retreat without a great deal of planning. All you need is a friend and you're off...
Later in the summer I will be writing about going out-of-country for a writing retreat. I think both offer some wonderful ways out of the everyday. Would love to hear what your best writing experiences have been... 
Create your own virtual writing retreatby Midge RaymondSadly, lately my writing has taken a backseat to everything else. So last week, I decided that I would use the long holiday weekend for an unofficial writing retreat. "Unofficial" essentially means that I didn't need to apply, travel, or formally do anything other than pledge to write — perfect for such a last-minute decision.To read the rest of Midge's adventures...click here