by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond Wickham
We are saturated with resolutions. We can’t assemble even one more accomplishment-based, goal-oriented construct. Already, we have good intentions overload. The only thing we know is that we want to get back in the habit of writing poems again. Regularly. With abandon. Until our fingers bleed. The holidays side-tracked us. (Did they distract you, too?). And we’re ready to start over with our poetry practice.
That’s the theme for this Poetry Mini-Challenge: starting over.
We’re going to capitalize on some of the energy of the New Year without wading through any more resolutions. This is not the place for your PowerPoint presentations on the changes you’re going to make in 2010, and it’s not the place for you to show off the line graphs you’ve set up to track your progress.
This is the place to explore those occasions when you’ve scrapped everything and attempted new beginnings. Here are some possibilities: throwing away the batter and starting the dish from scratch, crumpling up a drawing and starting a new one, splitting up with someone and getting back together under different terms (or jumping into a new relationship), packing up an old apartment and finding a fresh start somewhere else, digging up all the flowers and replanting them in different configurations, starting an emotional letter over and over because you can’t get it right.
Use any of these scenarios (and some of your own, real or made up) to launch your poems. You’re going to have to dig deep because we’re shooting for six days and six poems. You can stick with one scenario for all six poems (entrench yourself in all its elements or tangents), or you can play with six different ideas, one in each piece.
As you write
Please visit the forums for the January Poetry Mini-Challenge. They will be marked #1, #2, #3 and so on — one for each poem you write for this challenge. Jump into the forums and post links to your poems (or the text of the poems themselves if you don’t have a blog), and be sure to visit your fellow poets’ pieces to cheer each other on.
About the poetry mini-challenge
If you’ve signed on to Read Write Poem recently or if you missed the other challenges, you’re welcome to visit the original post for background. Here’s the short version:
A mini-challenge is a poetry-writing, poetry-reading or poetry-process prompt that you respond to with a new poem each day for a set number of days. The idea isn’t to warm up the poetry muscles, it’s to feel the burn. Go deeper. Explore further. Pass the place you may have stopped initially. See what comes next. And as if that weren’t juicy enough, you do all of it with the support and encouragement of the other crazy hardworking Read Write Poem members who take on the challenge.
Note: Please save the comments section of this post for discussion on or questions about the process. The poems and links go in the forums associated with the Poetry Mini-Challenge group, located here.
 Carolee Sherwood is a poet and artist who lives in Upstate New York. She is co-editor of Ouroboros Review, mother of three boys and a veteran Read Write Poem columnist. You can find her rambling about the creative life at Carolee Sherwood and drafting poems at I Am Maureen.
 Jill Crammond Wickham has discovered that the frantic pace of motherhood has driven her to write more, not less. Jill writes at Mom Trying to Write. She is a co-editor for Ouroboros Review and a senior contributor and columnist for Read Write Poem.
by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond Wickham
No matter how you look at it — an abundance of joy, a barrage of family, a magical time, an intimacy with faith, a commercial deathtrap — the final weeks of the year are hectic. There’s only one sure way we know to survive the end-of-the-year madness: Get some poems out of it!
No matter how you spend the holidays, be on the lookout for bits and pieces of your celebrations to wrap up in your poems.
Because it’s such a busy time, we’re going to take it easy on you and make this a three-poem challenge (three poems in three days), and we’re going to give you several ideas. We recommend pushing your muse by choosing one subject/category and writing three poems within the same prompt. Since it’s the season of kindness and generosity, however, no one is going to end up on the naughty list for going rogue and choosing to work with more than one prompt.
Here you go:
- Write three “odes” or three narrative poems to holiday traditions (e.g., favorite foods, activities, decorations). Approach this with seriousness or silliness, but attempt to avoid sentimentality. For great examples, check out out any of Kevin Young’s odes, such as his “Ode to Pork” or the narrative piece “Christmas Eve: My Mother Dressing,” by Toi Derricotte.
- Write three character sketches, each of a different relative. (Feel free to change names to protect individual privacy — or not!) Pay attention to the relatives who gather around you this time of year. Consider physical details, personal histories and memories. You may find inspiration in “Grandma Climbs,” by Philip Schultz, “Cousin Nancy,” by T.S. Eliot or “Granddaughter,” by Robinson Jeffers.
- Use list poems to write year-end reviews. Look at your year from three different angles (the good, the bad, the ugly; family, friends, work; at home, on the road, around town) and write a list poem from each angle. You may also want to try this: Write a list poem with personal details about your year, and write a second list poem about what’s gone on in the world this year. Make poem number three a combination of selected items from the two lists.
As you write
Please visit the forums for the December Poetry Mini-Challenge. They will be marked #1, #2 and #3 — one for each poem you write for this challenge. Jump into the forums and post links to your poems (or the text of the poems themselves if you don’t have a blog), and be sure to visit your fellow poets’ pieces to cheer each other on.
About the poetry mini-challenge
If you’ve signed on to Read Write Poem recently or if you missed the other challenges, you’re welcome to visit the original post for background. Here’s the short version:
A mini-challenge is a poetry-writing, poetry-reading or poetry-process prompt that you respond to with a new poem each day for a set number of days. The idea isn’t to warm up the poetry muscles, it’s to feel the burn. Go deeper. Explore further. Pass the place you may have stopped initially. See what comes next. And as if that weren’t juicy enough, you do all of it with the support and encouragement of the other crazy hardworking Read Write Poem members who take on the challenge.
Note: Please save the comments section of this post for discussion on or questions about the process. The poems and links go in the forums associated with the Poetry Mini-Challenge group, located here.
Carolee Sherwood is a poet and artist who lives in Upstate New York. She is co-editor of Ouroboros Review, mother of three boys and a veteran Read Write Poem columnist. You can find her rambling about the creative life at Carolee Sherwood and drafting poems at I Am Maureen.
Jill Crammond Wickham has discovered that the frantic pace of motherhood has driven her to write more, not less. Jill writes at Mom Trying to Write. She is a co-editor for Ouroboros Review and a senior contributor and columnist for Read Write Poem.
by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond Wickham
On our recent trip to the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, we attended a reading by Afaa Michael Weaver. The highlight of the reading was a 10-section poem from his current manuscript. Each section of the poem was used to explore a singular theme from a variety of angles, viewpoints and perspectives — very much like Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself. As Weaver’s deep voice faded out at the end of each section, we waited expectantly to see how the next would unfold.
This would be perfect, we thought, for our November Mini-Challenge — five days, five sections of a whole poem.
How do you build a poem, you ask?
Well, there are the obvious construction metaphors: piece by piece, board by board, block by block. However, we prefer to think in terms of food. Just like tapas is a meal you create with small samplings from many dishes, this week you’re going to create a single poem out of five smaller poems.
Need a menu? Try these delightful and savory options.
- Use the last line of the first poem to begin your second poem, last line of the second poem to begin your third poem, and so on.
- Write the same poem using five different viewpoints/settings/voices/time periods.
- After writing your first poem, pick an image to expand on in your second poem (and so on!).
- Choose a theme. Brainstorm the five most disparate ways of exploring it. Write five poems.
- Choose an abstraction. Choose four synonyms for the abstraction. Write a poem for each word. (Want live on the wild side? Try a couple antonyms; they’ll spice up your writing, just like hot peppers!)
As you write
Please visit the forums for the November Poetry Mini-Challenge. They will be marked #1, #2, #3 and so on — one for each poem you write for this challenge. Jump into the forums and post links to your poems (or the text of the poems themselves if you don’t have a blog). Try to make it all the way to #5 and visit the forums to cheer each other on.
Special “Build-a-Poem” posting notes/suggestions: To make a cohesive reading experience, after posting poem #1, consider posting the previous poem(s) with each new poem. Or … once you reach poem #5, why not post the series in its entirety?
About the poetry mini-challenge
If you’ve signed on to Read Write Poem recently or if you missed the other challenges, you’re welcome to visit the original post for background. Here’s the short version:
A mini-challenge is a poetry-writing, poetry-reading or poetry-process prompt that you respond to with a new poem each day for a set number of days. The idea isn’t to warm up the poetry muscles, it’s to feel the burn. Go deeper. Explore further. Pass the place you may have stopped initially. See what comes next. And as if that weren’t juicy enough, you do all of it with the support and encouragement of the other crazy hardworking Read Write Poem members who take on the challenge.
Note: Please save the comments section of this post for discussion on or questions about the process. The poems and links go in the forums associated with the Poetry Mini-Challenge group, located here.
Carolee Sherwood is a poet and artist who lives in Upstate New York. She is co-editor of Ouroboros Review, mother of three boys and a veteran Read Write Poem columnist. You can find her rambling about the creative life at Carolee Sherwood and drafting poems at I Am Maureen.
Jill Crammond Wickham has discovered that the frantic pace of motherhood has driven her to write more, not less. Jill writes at Mom Trying to Write. She is a co-editor for Ouroboros Review and a senior contributor and columnist for Read Write Poem.
by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond Wickham
Hang onto your witch’s hats, kiddies, we’re in for a ride! This month’s Poetry Mini-Challenge is “the body,” and we’re going to stick with it for a while: seven days to be exact! You can take your body poems anywhere you’d like, but since it’s October, the most wonderfully grotesque month, why not make your writing a little twisted? Get a little blood and guts on your typing fingers.
Transform into a monster (your own version of a werewolf) or play Frankenstein and build a monster (or seven of them). Explore the workings of the body, not rhetorically, but as though you are scooping out a pumpkin. You don’t have to take this in a guy-with-chainsaw-horror-flick direction (though you could). The mystery and spirit of Halloween — and the body — can be just as delightful as they can be frightening.
How it works
Every day for seven days (yes, seven!), write a poem about the body in the context of October, whatever that conjures up for you. We know seven days is a challenge, but “challenge” is in the title of this series, after all, and here’s what we’re thinking: Let’s make a big poetry push this month before the holy-crap-it’s-nearly-the-holidays (aka November) procrastination kicks in.
As you write, visit the forums for the October Poetry Mini-Challenge. They will be marked #1, #2, #3 and so on — one for each poem you write for this challenge. Jump into the forums and post links to your poems (or the text of the poems themselves if you don’t have a blog). Try to make it all the way to #7 and visit the forums to cheer each other on.
About the poetry mini-challenge
If you’ve signed on to Read Write Poem recently or if you missed the other challenges, you’re welcome to visit the original post for background.
Here’s the short version: a mini-challenge is a poetry-writing, poetry-reading or poetry-process prompt that you respond to with a new poem each day for a set number of days. The idea isn’t to warm up the poetry muscles, it’s to feel the burn. Go deeper. Explore further. Pass the place you may have stopped initially. See what comes next. And as if that weren’t juicy enough, you do all of it with the support and encouragement of the other crazy hardworking Read Write Poem members who take on the challenge.
Note: Please save the comments section of this post for discussion on or questions about the process. The poems and links go in the forums associated with the Poetry Mini-Challenge group, located here.
Carolee Sherwood is a painter, mixed-media artist and poet. This moody mother of three boys shares her writing at her site, Carolee Sherwood, and is a senior contributor and columnist for Read Write Poem.
 Jill Crammond Wickham has discovered that the frantic pace of motherhood has driven her to write more, not less. Jill writes at Mom Trying to Write and is a senior contributor and columnist for Read Write Poem.
by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond Wickham
It’s September! We can’t believe summer is over, and we can’t believe it’s time already for our second poetry mini-challenge! (If you’ve signed on to Read Write Poem in the last few weeks or if you missed the first challenge, you’re welcome to visit the original post for background.)
The short version
A mini-challenge is a poetry-writing, poetry-reading or poetry-process prompt that you respond to each day for a set number of days. The idea isn’t to warm up the poetry muscles, it’s to feel the burn. Go deeper. Explore further. Pass the place you may have stopped initially. See what comes next. And as if that weren’t juicy enough, you do all of it with the support and encouragement of the other crazy hardworking Read Write Poem members who take on the challenge.
This month’s mini-challenge
Eavesdrop. Put yourself in places where you can overhear other people’s conversations: buses, coffee shops, grocery stores, waiting areas. Tune in to engines running, dishes clanking, papers shuffling. Mother Nature is fair game, too. Listen to the noises she’s making as the seasons gear up for a change. Keep a notebook on hand so you can grab all sorts of sounds and words (including full lines of dialogue) throughout your day.
Every day for five days, write a poem inspired by the sounds and voices you’ve noted. Whenever you can, infuse your writing with sound — help us hear what you hear how you hear it. Engage our ears! If you want to, you can write your five poems as a series, or you can write five poems that have nothing to do with one another.
As you write, visit the forums for the September Poetry Mini-Challenge. They’re marked #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5 — one for each poem you write for this challenge. Jump into the forums and post links to your poems (or the text of the poems themselves if you don’t have a blog). Try to make it all the way to #5 and visit the forums to cheer each other on.
Note: Please save the comments section of this post for discussion on or questions about the process. The poems and links go in the forums associated with the Poetry Mini-Challenge group, located here.
Carolee Sherwood is a painter, mixed-media artist and poet. This moody mother of three boys shares her writing at her site, Carolee Sherwood, and is a senior contributor and columnist for Read Write Poem.
 Jill Crammond Wickham has discovered that the frantic pace of motherhood has driven her to write more, not less. Jill writes at Mom Trying to Write and is a senior contributor and columnist for Read Write Poem.
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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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