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I found a treasure trove!

poetry.us.com

With poetry.us.com, Mark Thalman — teacher, poet, and one-man poetry promoter — shines a light on his favorite writers with a website featuring their books, poems and advice.

Sometimes a writer just needs a little nudge. Sometimes a well-timed keep on really does make a difference.

Here, a few of my favorite tips:

It’s been said over and over, but truly it’s the best advice I can give: Read poetry widely and deeply for joy, for love of it, for what it can teach you about how to write, and for what it can teach you about being human in this beautiful and difficult world.

 — Patricia Fargnoli

Keep writing. (Threshold took me more than ten years to write.)

Keep submitting. (Before it finally won, Threshold was a finalist in twenty-five national book contests).

Never give up.

— Jennifer Richter

As for advice for others, it is really simple:  Read! Read! Read!

— Linda Pastan

 

People talk about being writers, dream like writers, travel like writers, party like writers, but don't write much.  We need experiences, sure. But the writers are home writing.  

— Henry Hughes


Advice I often give to my students: Don’t tell a poem what to do; listen to what it wants.  If you don’t understand this, get a cat.

— Tim Barnes


Your turn! Do you have a favorite piece of advice, or a tip to share with other writers?


Thankful Thursday: Stop being such a jerk

I praised the sun that warmed the earth.

The next day I praised the lavender blooming from the heat.

The next day I cursed the aphids.

It's like that this week. My gratitude has got some bumps, and I'm clutching three small words: help, thanks, wow.

Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides. It means you are willing to stop being such a jerk. When you are aware of all that has been given to you, in your lifetime and in the past few days, it is hard not to be humbled, and pleased to give back.

— Anne Lamott
from Help, Thanks, Wow

 

It's Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to express gratitude for people, places, things & more. Joy contracts and expands in proportion to our gratitude. What makes your world expand?

 

Did you ever reach out?

I'm thinking of Judy Blume.

As a child I was certain she had peered into my life and written books just for me: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and Blubber and Deenie. I wrote her a letter of earnest appreciation — and she wrote back! I don't remember her words but I do recall that it was the first time I saw a writer as a real, warm and human person. 

Over the years I've read again and again Letters to a Young Poet, a compilation of letters Rainer Maria Rilke wrote to an aspiring writer. I like the idea of mentor-by-mail.

"In a letter," writes Anne Carson," both reader and writer discover an ideal image of themselves, short blinding passages are all it takes."

A few years ago, I wrote a letter to a poet whose work I admired, and though we shared a mutual friend, never was a word returned.

Today I read of a long and rich correspondence between two writers a generation apart. I feel awe, and a bit of envy, too.

How about you? Do you write to writers? Or did a reader write to you? Do you have a tale to tell?

 

10 books that shaped my writing life

A nearby library recently received a grant to buy poetry. What books, they asked me, would you suggest?

After brief dismay (money to buy poetry?! this is a rare and wonderful occasion), my mind raced and whirled. How to choose? Award-winning books? Classic poetry? Contemporary? Regional? Mainstream favorites? My latest favorites?

After all the mental hubalub, I offered the following list of books I learned from and loved, the poetry collections that, though I didn't recognize at the time, shaped my writing life:

The Dream of a Common Language by Adrienne Rich
With a close command of language and line, Rich masterfully unspools experience.

A conversation begins
with a lie. And each
speaker of the so-called common language feels
the ice-floe split, the drift apart

Live or Die by Anne Sexton
Sexton was master of confession (long before social media saturation).

But suicides have a special language.
Like carpenters they want to know which tools.
They never ask why build.

What Narcissism Means to Me by Tony Hoagland
This book delivered revelation: a poem can be funny, witty, sarcastic, sad, and tell a story, and all at once!

The sparrows are a kind of people
Who lost a war a thousand years ago;
As punishment all their color was taken away.


The Way It Is by William Stafford
A model of productivity, Stafford wrote over 50 books — and his first was not published until age 46!

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?


The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson
Is this book a very long poem, or a semi-short story? Carson calls it “a fictional essay.” I call it brilliant.

XXIV. And kneeling at the edge of the transparent sea I shall shape for myself a new heart from salt and mud.

A wife is in the grip of being.
Easy to say Why not give up on this?
But let’s suppose your husband and a certain dark woman
like to meet at a bar in early afternoon.
Love is not conditional.
Living is conditional.


50 poems by e.e. cummings
Cummings showed me what language could do, what a poem could be.

love is more thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more freqent than to fail


The Book of Questions by Pablo Neruda
Yes, poems can be silly, surreal and stirring.

And what is the name of the month
that falls between December and January?

Why didn’t they give us longer
months that last all year?

And three more — not poetry, but poetic:

Dear Diego by Elena Poniatowska
A poignant, delicate story of art and unrequited love, told through letters.

 

Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton
As a younger writer, this book provided comfort and relief.

And it occurs to me that there is a proper balance between not asking enough of oneself and asking or expecting too much. It may be that I set my sights too high and so repeatedly end the day in depression. Not easy to find the balance, for if one does not have wild dreams of achievement there is no spur even to get the dishes washed. One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.


The Lover by Marguerite Duras
Tight, lyrical prose turns this intimate story about sexual awakening into a poetic, searing story of love.


Note: Don't worry, this process didn't dismiss local and lesser known poets. I also composed a list of regional favorites, and another poet gathered a list of Oregon's award-winning poets.


Now it's your turn. What's on your list? What books have stayed with you, have shaped your writing life?

 

Thin Skin - winner!

Yes, we've got a winner!

In the random, eyes-closed, pick-a-name drawing to giveaway a copy of my book, Thin Skin, the winner is . . .

Sandy Mier

Congratulations Sandy. Thanks to everyone for reading, writing & responding.


Still burning to read Thin Skin? Don't deny your desire — buy the book at these fine locations:

• Push Pull Books (publisher - signed copies available here)

• West Side Books in Denver, Colorado (thanks Lois!)

• Mari's Books in Yachats, Oregon (thanks Mari, Mary & Jeanette)

• Amazon (thanks big anonymous warehouse)

 
Until next time . . . write on, read more!

 

Thankful Thursday (on Friday)

It's Thursday, again, already. Please join me in a weekly pause to express appreciation for people, places, things and more.

On this Thankful Thursday-Friday, I am thankful for:

- the magic (okay, chemistry) of spray tans

- the relief of tears

- the unexpected companionship of you.

And by you, I mean, readers and writers and people near and far, that I have met and not met, that I have known and not known. Some days it strikes me the beauty of how this big and sometimes anonymous world can mysteriously opens its arms and let me in. Thank you, dear reader, for your attention, your literary love.

To show my appreciation, please let me give you a book. Win a copy of my new book, Thin Skin. The drawing is just days away and I want you (yes, you!) to win. Go here.

 

 

Smile — and other (essential) tips

When your hands tremble and your voice quakes, relax your mouth, recall your best friend, and smile. The audience wants to like you. When you relax, your ease allows others to breathe a sigh of relief, too.


Hey, don't hang around here today — head over to Lisa Romeo Writes, where I offer Ten Tips to Giving a Good Reading. (My favorite is no. 8, Don't bring your husband).

Read the tips here  — then meet me in the comments to dish about your annoying and/or fabulous reading experiences.

 

Thankful Thursday: Just One Line

Some days she writes just one line:

I like chocolate.

Last time she told me what she could say but couldn't write:

I've lived in four places. It was hard when I had to leave all my toys.

Maybe she's 8 or 10 or 15. Maybe her story is every story of nearly every child I now can't shake.

It's Thankful Thursday and here in this dark nook is gratitude for the young girl softly sounding out words like a prayer. When we come together I am "teacher" but mostly I listen and wait. We talk, and read, and write, and she is eager and willing. With the pencil in a fierce grip, her hand labors across the page. It's not easy but slow and deliberate she inches out letter after letter. Today she has something to say:

I am the old bike asleep in the rain.

 

It's Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to express gratitude for people, places and things. What are you thankful for today?

 

Let words rise Off the Page

Join us for Off the Page — an evening of fiction, poetry, memoir & song — on Saturday, April 13 at 7pm on the central coast of Oregon, in the village of Yachats.

Festivities take place at the Overleaf Lodge Event Center. Doors open and music starts at 6:30pm. The reading begins at 7pm. Admission is free and open to all ages.

Enjoy the 7th annual celebration of fiction, poetry, memoir & song. An ensemble of Oregon writers — hailing from Siletz, Newport, South Beach, Waldport and Yachats  — will share their work.

Featured writers include: Scott T. Starbuck, Khloella Brateng, Theresa Wisner, Hallie Price, Drew Myron & youth from Seashore Family Literacy — with music by Richard Sharpless.

Free words, free expression, free admission.

 

Celebrate, and How!

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

— T.S. Eliot
from The Burial of the Dead


April may be a rough month but it's also National Poetry Month. Coincidence? Given how poets make art of their misery, it seems quite fitting.

Launched in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, National Poetry Month began with just a few hundred people taking part. Today, it is the largest literary celebration in the world with special events taking place in thousands of schools, libraries, bookstores, and communities nationwide.

Here's how you'll find me spreading poetry cheer:

Poem in Your Pocket Day
The idea is simple: select a poem you love, carry it with you, then share it with co-workers, family, and friends. Poem in Your Pocket Day is on April 18, 2013.

Memorize a Poem
Copying or reciting a poem — my own or someone else's — helps me experience a poem more deeply. With the concentration repetition requires, I more fully "wear" the poem and feel the way its cadence and language bends and moves.

Put Poems in Unexpected Places
Some of my favorite spots: The bathroom stall. The coffeeshop table. Beneath a car's windshield wipers. Slipped between pages of library books. More ideas here.

Write a Letter to a Poet
Have a favorite poet? Or a book of poems you love? Write a letter to the author expressing your appreciation. Or, just write a poetic letter to . . . anyone. 

Chalk a Poem
Write a poem on the pavement — in chalk. It's cheap, easy and a fun surprise for passers-by.

Find (unexpected) Poems
Found poetry is waiting for you to discover its beauty. Write a Newspaper Blackout Poem, a Headline Poem, or patch together a Collage Poem. Up for a challenge? Check out Pulitzer Remix, in which poets take on the classics to "find" poems within the texts.

There's no shortage of ways to celebrate: attend a reading, join a writing group (or start one), buy (or borrow) a book of poems, subscribe to a poetry journal, and . . . write a poem (or 30)!


How are you celebrating?

 

Thankful Thursday: Happiness is . . .

from the stanza, a blog by Molly Spencer

It's Thankful Thursday.

Gratitude. Appreciation. Praise. Please join me in a weekly pause to express appreciation for the people, places & things that bring joy.

On this Thankful Thursday, I am swooning over spring, spotting "wild" daffodils at every turn — in vacant fields, along highway edges, in ditches, and at dead ends. Just who planted these bright yellow beauties? Thank you, thank you, thank you.

While contemplating botanic mysteries, I'm equally thankful for these kind surprises:

1.
Happiness is a shelf of unread books, writes Molly Spencer — and there's my book!

2.
A note from a friend:

My sisters and I read your poems out loud. We didn't understand everything, but after a few martinis we understood some things.

Family, cocktails & poetry aloud. Now, that's how to enjoy poems! With friends like these it is a very Thankful Thursday indeed.

 

What are you thankful for today?  

 

A Thin Skin Giveaway

Shazam!

My book is fresh from the press — and I'm giving it away.

It's spring, it's sunny & it's National Poetry Month. Hotdiggety, let's dive in!

Enter now to win Thin Skin, a collection of photos and poems by Drew Myron.

Here's how: Leave your name and contact info in the Comment Section below. On April 30, 2013 — at the end of National Poetry Month — I'll close my eyes and randomly pick a name from the entries. Winner will be notified on May 1, 2013. 

That's it. Simple.

Want a challenge? Write your own poem using Thin Skin as a theme, and share your work in the comment section. I may be bowled over and send you a book, too.

To get you in the mood, here's the poem that prompted the Thin Skin title:

Unless you

visit the dark places, you’ll never
feel the sea pull you in and under,
swallowing words before they form.
Until you visit places within you
cloistered and constant, you will travel
in a tourist daze, wrought with too much
of what endures, depletes.

If you never turn from light, close
your eyes, feel the life inside, you’ll leave
the church, the beach, your self,
knowing nothing more.  

Unless you are silent, you will not
know your urgent heart, how it beats
between the thin skin of yes and no.

— Drew Myron

 

Let the fun begin! Enter now. Write now.

Can't wait to win this book? Buy now, here or here.



Thankful Thursday: Despite Yourself

You choose one little thing, and everything that follows — maybe for the rest of your life — chooses you. So you pray for mercy, for whatever it takes to bear it gracefully. And give thanks for all the good things that come along, despite yourself, despite all the stupid, awful things you believe and say and do.

- from In the Deep Midwinter
a novel by Robert Clark

I am thinking of choice and consequence, of path and circumstance. What does it mean? It is Easter Week. Orchids and lillies, prayer and surprise, jellybeans and bunnies. This means something, and yet, what really? To everything I ask: What does this mean to me, to you, to the world at large — and is there distinction?

I am thankful on this Thursday, for all the good things despite myself.

Now it's your turn: What are you thankful for today?


 

Thankful Thursday: Spring-ish

Rick Hamell photo

It's Thankful Thursday! Gratitude. Appreciation. Praise. Please join me in a weekly pause to appreciate people, places & things.

This week marks the official change of season, and I am thankful for spring. Here on the western edge, seasonal shifts are not immediately apparent. It's been raining for days, the sky is a static grey, and I'm still swathed in sweaters and boots. But even in the endless damp, daffodils are bursting, a bright yellow sign of spring.

How simple, how sweet, this dash of color. Some days the smallest things mean the most.

How about you — What are you thankful for today?

 

On Sunday: Compassion, Expansion

Writing is an act that generates and expands attention. . . Your suffering is not discontinuous from the suffering of the world. Attentiveness, when freed from the intentions of self-promotion, is a practice that inevitably leads to compassion. And compassion initiates the ability to do anything useful, to think anything original and ungrasping, to work with the actualities of a situation with some breadth of being and some hope."

- Jane Hirshfield
from A God In The House: Poets Talk About Faith

 

 

Thankful Thursday: boyfriend & more

Thursday is no solo gig. It's now a prompt, a share, a circle, a pause. I wake to an email: It's Thankful Thursday, a friend writes, and I'm thankful for you.

What a great way to start the day.

Funny thing about thankfulness, the more you seek, the more you find. I've been gathering gratitude — the silly, the profound, the vast inbetween. Here, a few highlights:

1. Boyfriend jeans. Soft, comfy and cool, this worn-out, worn-in style has been called "the thinking girl's sexy." I've tossed the skinnies for this low-slung waist and relaxed rear.

2. A friend gives me a book of poems (Bewilderment by David Ferry). My friend is not a poet; she simply enjoyed the book and wanted to share her enthusiasm. I'm delighted. Think about it, how often do non-poets give the gift of poetry?

3. A candy bar wrapped in poem! Chocolove prints a poem on the inside of every wrapper. With 32 unique wrappers, they've printed an estimated 500 different poems. I recently enjoyed dark chocolate with Meeting at Night by Robert Browning.

4. Speaking of fashion (and we were, see no. 1):   

When in doubt, choose the plainer dress, the simpler word.

— from A Poem Should Not Be Mean But Behave: Good Breeding for Poems by Jill Alexander Essbaum.

Go here for the full poem (and really, isn't the title alone worth the effort?)

 

What's got you delighted, dappled, simple and clear? It's Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to give thanks for people, places, things & more. What are you thankful for today?

 

Let's Come to Our Senses

Let's write together — in the lush green forest, where river meets sea, meets sky, meets creative exploration. 

Come to Your Senses
A Writing Workshop with Drew Myron

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
 in Neskowin, Oregon
Saturday, June 15, 2013
10am - 4pm
Cost: $70


About the Workshop:
Writing comes alive with the detail our senses provide. Exploring the senses of touch, taste and smell, we'll focus on fresh writing with prompts and practices designed to energize and inspire. From poetry to prose, fact to fiction, this interactive workshop will serve as a creative springboard from which you'll generate new work, meet other writers, and share experiences that will help shape, shift and sharpen your writing. This workshop is open to adult writers of all levels, experience and genres.

About the Instructor:
Drew Myron is the author of "Thin Skin," a collection of photos and poems. She frequently collaborates with artists and her work has appeared in galleries, books and literary journals. As a journalist, Drew has covered news, arts, entertainment and travel for AOL’s “CityGuide,” “Northwest Best Places” and other publications. She heads DCM, a marketing communications company. She is writing instructor at Seashore Family Literacy, and the creator and host of "Off the Page," an annual reading event featuring Oregon writers.

Register now, here.


How to Write


Want to write lean and concise? Try writing ad copy — it's excellent training in the skill of combining persuasion with pith, muscle with mood. It's the haiku of commerce, and it's not easy.

No one likes advertising but everyone recalls a catchy jingle, a funny line, or a moving moment. Haven't you chuckled over an ad, or shyly wiped a tear after a 30-second spot?

David Ogilvy, the original Mad Man, was an ad exec known as the Father of Advertising. In 1982 he sent to all of his employees this memo:

How to Write

The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write well. Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:

1.
Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.

2.
Write the way you talk. Naturally.

3.
Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.

4.
Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.

5.
Never write more than two pages on any subject.

6.
Check your quotations.

7.
Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.

8.
If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.

9.
Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.

10.
If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.

— memo via Brain Pickings