by Christine Swint
One of the benefits to living in a big city is that we have an active poetry scene. And thanks to Collin Kelley, who is a board member of Poetry Atlanta, I am able to find out about all the readings in my area.
In addition to the pure enjoyment of listening to poets read their words as they intended them to sound, I also use poetry readings as a learning experience — a way to become a better poet.
Keeping a notebook handy is a must for me. I jot down memorable quotes the different poets share, or ideas for future poems sparked from listening. When Cherryl Floyd-Miller recently read from her latest collection, Exquisite Heats (Salt Publishing, 2008), she read her poem “Darfur.” Floyd-Miller explained to the audience that it was a bop whose refrain was inspired by the song “History,” by Julia Biel.
As soon as I got home I looked up the bop, and found out from Poets.org that it’s a relatively new form, devised by poet Aafa Michael Weaver, at the summer gathering of Cave Canem.
You can read how to write a bop on the Poets.org website. They have a few examples of some wonderful poems that might inspire you. Although it’s a somewhat loose form that varies from poem to poem, what each one has in common is a refrain that’s repeated three times.
In Floyd-Miller’s poem “Darfur,” she begins with an epigraph from the song “History,” and then includes six lines, followed with a two-line refrain. She then has a second stanza of eight lines that expands on the ideas set forth in the first section of the poem, with the refrain slightly altered. The poem is then concluded with six more lines, and a third refrain, again altered.
Floyd-Miller shared several other forms with us during the reading. She said that although she feels it is important for her to know the forms of the past, she also enjoys breaking the rules to allow her own poetic voice to come through. This is a concept I love to hear, because it gives me great pleasure to write in form, but in my own way.
We’d love to hear some memorable quotes or ideas you’ve learned from poetry readings in your area. Have you discovered new poets by attending open mic night at your local poetry gathering spot? Have you attended a workshop that taught you some new aspects of craft? Let us know in the comments section below.
by Jessica Fox-Wilson
Just like “Law & Order,” this week’s Read Write Word words are ripped from the headlines. Sunday’s New York Times and L.A. Times emailed headlines, to be exact. It always amazes me to learn what kind of cool words I notice, when I simply look for them.
If you want to participate in the prompt, simply use as many (or as few) of the words below as you can in a poem and then share it with the rest of us. You can link to your poem in the comments to this post, or if you want more readers, link in Thursday’s Get Your Poem On post.
Have you noticed any good words lately? If so, we could use some word lists from you. Just send your lists to info at readwritepoem dot org.
by Juliet Wilson
Whether or not we’re happy with our current lives, I’m sure most of us have at some point wondered what it would be like to live a completely different life. Perhaps you feel you were someone else entirely in a previous life, or maybe you wonder what would have happened if you had made another decision at a key point? This week, why not use one of these musings as a basis for a poem?
Me? Well, the rather severe look in my latest passport photo, combined with the ease with which I learnt Italian, made me wonder about “My Life as a Mafia Widow.” You can read that poem, along with everyone else’s, when we Get Our Poems On next week.
by Carolee Sherwood
Happy Thursday! It’s time to Get Your Poem On. I can’t wait to hear if you used my prompt to write a poem to chill you out or to “capitalize” on an advertising slogan. You may have been inspired by an image or a word you found here at Read Write Poem, or you may have taken matters into your own hands.
No matter where your poems has its roots, post a link to it here in the comments section and then take a mid-February “vacation” and travel around to visit the poems of your fellow poets.
Please, link back here in your posts, either with a hyperlink to Read Write Poem or by using the badge in your post. Sidebar links are great but it helps our “internet health” when you link in every post you contribute to the project. And please add “Read Write Poem” in your tags, if you don’t mind.
For the new folks: Please take a few moments to read the About pages, including our Copyrights page. If you have any questions about the project after reading through those pages, email us at info (at) readwritepoem (dot) org.
by Carolee Sherwood
Let’s begin this poll dance with a happy dance. Aren’t all poll dances happy? Around here, absolutely. But this one is especially celebratory since, for the first time, more than 100 votes were cast in the recent Read Write Poll! It’s wonderful. It’s happy dance-worthy. (Thank you!)
So, how much of your poetry writing do you post on your blog: all of it? most of it? half of it? less than half? a small percent? don’t blog at all?
You may be as surprised as I am to learn that more than one-third of you — 37 percent — say you don’t blog. If you are in this demographic, give us a yell in the comments section. We’d love to meet you! The main way we create a poetry community at Read Write Poem is to visit the blogs of our fellow poets at least weekly when we collectively “Get Our Poem On” and post links to our original poems. It’s so great that non-bloggers are visiting, and we’d love to hear how you’re using the site, what resources work for you, and how you’d like to participate in the future.
The rest of us reported blogging our poetry, and we scattered our votes among the choices. It’s tempting to say it means something that after non-bloggers, the second highest voting block (22 percent) was from poets who blog “most” of their poetry. However, the opposite choice — “I only post a small percentage of what I write” — earned 18 percent of the votes, a relatively similar section of our visitors. Ten percent post “half,” 10 percent post “all of it,” and four percent post “less than half of it.”
No matter where you find yourself within these statistics, use the comments section to tell us about your motivations. Why do you post poetry on your blog at all? How do you decide what to post and what to withhold? Have your poetry blogging habits changed over time?
Watch for our upcoming poll inspired by Read Write Poem a participant who left a suggestion at our last poll dance (What would you like to know?).
Here’s how the poll dance works: We post a poll and let it ride for a bit, and then I talk about the topic and the results. But don’t make me dance alone! Keep me company in the comments section where we share our thoughts on the poll and contribute our personal stories.
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read write poem news- read write poem napowrimo anthology
June 20, 2010 | 1:36 pmThe Read Write Poem NaPoWriMo Anthology is still in production. Selection, placement, layout and copyediting are taking longer than anticipated. Thank you for your patience. I hope to have the piece completed in July. For those who have emailed asking if they can be included, the May 7 deadline for submission of work stands. Those who met that deadline will be included. Please check the post on this site listing who I received submissions from by that date. If you submitted your work by the May 7 deadline in accordance with our guidelines and your name is not listed, send an email to info (at) readwritepoem (dot) org.
- read write poem napowrimo anthology
May 5, 2010 | 3:09 pmRemember that Friday* is the deadline for submitting work to the Read Write Poem NaPoWriMo Anthology. Check out the guidelines for submission in the main column (to the left). On May 8, we’ll post a news item listing everyone we’ve received work from. If you submitted work and your name is not on that list, please let us know. Thanks!
*I initially said “tomorrow,” but I meant to say “Friday.”
- napowrimo congratulations, and a reminder
April 24, 2010 | 12:05 pmIt’s the final week of the Read Write Poem NaPoWriMo Challenge! Just 7 days left. With that, a reminder that Read Write Poem will culminate with the anthology featuring work from those who complete the challenge. A post with details for submitting to the anthology will be published May 1. Be sure you remove any information from the site that you want preserved — such as group content and personal messages. Those elements of the site will be removed May 1 as well. The main site will remain up as an archive.
- ‘underlife’ tour at january gill o’neil’s blog
April 20, 2010 | 8:11 pmJanuary Gill O’Neil’s virtual book tour has moved to her site and is underway now. Check out the lineup at Poet Mom.
 Archive for read write poem news »
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thank you and farewell As of May 1, 2010, Read Write Poem is no longer active.
In late May, an anthology featuring work from those who completed the Read Write Poem NaPoWriMo Challenge will be published here and on issuu.com.
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