Ode to 2020
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“In 2020 I’m trying to remember joy, the same way I remember pain....” In this video, Yaw Kyeremateng performs “Ode to 2020” with fellow poets from Write About Now Poetry, a community-oriented collective in Houston.
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Mahogany L. Browne at 92Y
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In this 92nd Street Y video, Mahogany L. Browne reads poems from her books Black Girl Magic (Roaring Brook Press, 2018) and Kissing Caskets (YesYes Books, 2017). Her forthcoming book, Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice, will be out in March from Roaring Brook Press.
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Comics Poetry
“Comics are a staccato medium, with evidently small elements adding up to bigger ones,” says cartoonist Jason Adam Katzenstein in “Graphic Narrative Workshops” by Elena Goukassian in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine. “Comics panels feel like stanzas in a poem.” Find a favorite short comic strip and write a poem comprised of one stanza per panel. Study the comic to gather a sense of the theme and pacing, working backwards from the images to write a piece that reflects a bigger whole created out of smaller, distilled moments.
The Year of Blue Water Reading
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In this Asian American Writers’ Workshop video, Yanyi celebrates the launch of his debut collection, The Year of Blue Water (Yale University Press, 2019), with readings by poets Wo Chan, Erica Hunt, and Monica Youn. Yanyi is featured in “Poetic Lenses: Our Fifteenth Annual Look at Debut Poetry” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
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Spotlight on Poet Peter Cooley
Last November, I spoke with poet Peter Cooley following the International Poetry Reading cosponsored by Poets & Writers at Tulane University. Cooley, professor emeritus of English at Tulane University and the former poet laureate of Louisiana, is the author of ten books of poetry, most recently World Without Finishing (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2018). We talked about the passing of his dear wife and laughed about advice his daughters recently gave him about the dating world. Here’s a short Q&A that extends our conversation.
As professor emeritus of English at Tulane, what do you look for in the writing of MFA applicants?
The ability to see life a little differently, from a new angle, and the possession of a facility with language.
How have creative writing programs changed since you were a student at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop?
There are, happily, many different kinds of MFA programs now, from the studio model like the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, to the more structured programs like the University of Arkansas. They are all over the country. And there are low-residency programs, similar to Warren Wilson College’s MFA program.
Recently, you spoke to me about becoming a widower and the advice your daughters have given you about dating. How has this experience impacted your writing?
I am finishing a whole book about grief and being a widower. My wife died on March 15, 2018. I thought I couldn’t write about this, which meant I needed to write it.
As a former poet laureate of Louisiana what advice can you offer for writers?
My advice to writers is the old advice: read, read, read, revise, revise, revise. Find a couple of people whose opinion you respect and show your stuff to them with the hope of receiving criticism. Be prepared for continuous rejection in sending your work out and remember that some of the most famous works have been rejected countless times.
You told me you’ve subscribed to Poets & Writers Magazine for years. What do you like most about the magazine?
I have subscribed to Poets & Writers Magazine for as long as I can remember. I enjoy the feature articles, the news of new writers, and the classifieds. I also like the layouts and photographs of writers.
First Friday Reading Series
Today’s post will wrap up my roundup of reading and performance series that have included Houston VIP Slam, Poison Pen Reading Series, and Write About Now Poetry.
The First Friday Reading Series is the oldest series in Houston and has been going strong for the last forty-four years, holding monthly readings on the first Friday of each month since 1975. This classic platform has seen many of the city’s strongest writers grace its podium. The reading format is super simple: Have the Inprint House host on the first Friday of the month, select a featured poet, and then get the open mic going.
The series has always been open to the public so that any and every person gets a chance to read in a beautiful setting. What could be more literary than reading in a space that was once the living room of Claudia Rankine? The readings start at 8:30 PM and usually go on until 11:00 PM. This space is always packed and there is a running joke that even the “VIP Section,” the staircase, gets full quick providing extra seating when all the chairs are taken. I always have a great time when I am able to go and look forward to getting to hear a variety of poets, those that I have known for years and new friends I’m meeting for the first time.
What I have always loved about First Friday, still hosted by Robert Clark after all these years, is that anyone who goes is either reading older poems they haven’t read in forever or reading brand new work for the first time. Writers often experiment with poems they are planning on adding to a manuscript in order to hear their words out loud and get live feedback. Whatever you want to bring to the open mic, this is the safest space to do this work in. Come on in, there is always a chair, or a staircase, waiting for you.
First Friday Reading Series audience at Inprint House. Lupe Mendez is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Houston. Contact him at Houston@pw.org or on Twitter, @houstonpworg.
Dark Winter Dreams
“I had a dream, which was not all a dream. / The bright sun was extinguish’d, and the stars / Did wander darkling in the eternal space, / Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth / Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air,” wrote Lord Byron in “Darkness,” a poem composed in the summer of 1816, when unusually frigid temperatures, ominous thunderstorms, and incessant rains forced Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Shelley to hole up inside a Swiss villa. While there they initiated the famous ghost story contest that launched Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein and inspired Byron and Percy Shelley to create work filled with foreboding elements of the natural environment. Write a poem inspired by extreme weather phenomena, perhaps invoking elements of an environment in crisis and apocalyptic climate change. How can you manipulate imagery, syntax, and meter to make meteorological conditions fearsome and lyrical, to make something natural seem supernatural?
Growing in Writing: Part Two
In part two of my conversation with poet Deonte Osayande, I want to highlight his role in helping other writers share their work on stages in Detroit. Deonte was one of the first writers to introduce me to the Readings & Workshops program and the mini-grants offered to poets and writers. As an independent artist, Deonte was able to receive funding through the R&W program for his reading appearances and for leading writing workshops. As a series curator, Deonte has applied for, and received, a number of mini-grants for writers that he has invited to take part in events. Together we ran the Detroit slam series known as Freshwater Wordsmiths, which was first awarded funding from the R&W program in 2015.
Deonte says that he discovered the mini-grants from a peer and thought it would help the Freshwater Wordsmiths series grow. “I wanted a better way to pay people to come and perform for us, and I found it as an excellent way to recruit incoming writers,” says Deonte. The ability to fund writers in this way allowed Deonte to invite many who had never been to the Midwest before. Some of the writers who shared their work at Freshwater Wordsmiths and were funded through the R&W program include Troy Cunio, Safia Elhillo, Joel Greene, Robert Lashley, Ed Mabrey, Hieu Minh Nguyen, and Paul Tran.
In turn, local writers and fans of the literary arts in Detroit have been able to experience and build connections with writers from around the country. The ability to receive funding for writers also allows small venues in the city to lure traveling artists to their events even if the backing of a large university or organization is not present.
Interest in the literary world has expanded among the local writers who have been to reading series such as Freshwater Wordsmiths, and the many series that have been established in Detroit since the series closed. Through this support system, we are building community and sharing inspiration for our writing.
Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.Craft Capsule: The End
How do you know when to stop revising? Cameron Awkward-Rich shares a memorization exercise that helps him recognize when a poem is done.
Men in My Family
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“The men in my family wear masculinity like war medals. From birth, deem themselves protectors, providers, kings of everything their light touches....” In this Button Poetry video, Jordan Bailey reads his poem “Men in My Family” at the 2019 Rustbelt Poetry Festival in St. Louis, Missouri.
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