For the fifth year, I have attended the Massachusetts Poetry Festival and returned home filled with inspiration and joy. This is my favorite poetry event, year after year, and I encourage friends and colleagues to attend! I am never disappointed, always enriched. This year, I presented a round table discussion with my dear sisters Antoinette … Read more
Ask.com answers my query with the following: Poem is from the Greek poema, a noun derived from the verb poie-o, to make or do. Poets are often called makers.Thanks to my dear friend Linda Moore for bringing this derivation to my attention originally. It is this making that keeps swirling through my thoughts. Too many … Read more
Our workshop met for the last time yesterday, a 6-week cycle of sessions that I hope directed the writers to new ways of thinking about their work and, for a few, created fuel for new poems and directions. They took the assignment seriously. Each brought a revision of my poem or a complete rewrite as … Read more
This summer, as I focus on teaching adults rather than classrooms of school kids, a conversation surfaced in the poetry workshop regarding critique and suggestions from one writer to another. One of the workshop participants took issue with another participant for the habit of offering rewrite suggestions. He felt that it was against protocol to … Read more