(no subject)

[novapsyche]

Yesterday, Thirteen Blackbirds met. It was just four of us, sarahmichigan, dionysus1999, lameautarch and myself, but I had a great time. Our assignment was to write a poem that was fun to read out loud. We talked about accent, momentum, pacing, vocabulary, cadence... it was enriching.

Our next assignment is to write a love poem that points out the subject's flaws. (To me, this is the true mark of a love poem--you celebrate what others would consider defects.) I haven't written a love poem in years. I don't know if I'm up to the task.

Comments

[ladyteal.livejournal.com]

That's a wonderful assignment! I think Sharon Olds has a poem or two like that. If you haven't read hers, you might consider hunting one of them up to share with the group as well.

I'm excited for you all, getting together as a writing group. I really miss that. It's a wonderful experience, really. Lots of luck. :-)

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Sharon Olds is one of my favorite poets ever. I've met her in person, even.

[ladyteal.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. That is great! :-)

my mistress' breasts be DOOOONNNE. (dang.)

[stampytherhino.livejournal.com]

You met (The Story of) Sharon O.? What's she like? George Barlow had us watch that video from the Lannan series where Shari and Lamb Chop run a poetry seminar. She seemed awful nice, and very smart.

Anyhoo, I have a feeling you'll do a splendid job at this. You've always had a really good ability to love folks in balanced and full view, as far as I've known you. Me, I suck at love poems: it's 'cause I'm secretly a man-hating lesbian.

Re: my mistress' breasts be DOOOONNNE. (dang.)

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

She seemed pretty cool. Her reading was incredibly passionate, as is her usual. She and a handful of other prominent poets came to Grinnell as part of a lecture series. Li-Young Lee was there, too, as was Gerald Stern (IIRC). After the reading, they went over to Blue House for a get-together, and several people in the creative writing courses/departments were invited to join. That's where I met her. Shook her hand, ate hors d'oeuvres, and chatted in a way that only 20-year-olds can. (I suppose I was closer to 22 at the time.)

I had a much better time when I had the opportunity to lunch with Yusef Komunyakaa, though. What's that restaurant right on US 6? Ashley's? Chelsea's?

And thus ends novapsyche's post at namedropping.

Re: my mistress' breasts be DOOOONNNE. (dang.)

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'm a big fan of the Lannan series. The Ypsilanti library has quite a few of them available to patrons; dunno about the Ann Arbor library. It's a wonderful resource.