Week 2: Prompts, News, and Poets who are doing it
What an exciting week for writers, including the novel-ty of poets writing daily in November. Exciting because this week Appletree Books in Cleveland Heights has invited writers of all ilks to write in the bookstore window for an hour. I'm going to start with a report on how that's going, then feature a poet who used the prompts at "Read + Writer: 30 Days of Poetry" last April, and end with seven prompts, one a day for this week!News - Writers in the Window at Appletree Books
This sweet bookstore has been in the middle of the exciting Cedar Hill neighborhood |
| Dianne Borsenik in the window |
So far, Jane tells me, "We actually have a number of poets coming in. We've had Christine Howey in this past Tuesday, Susan Oelbracht was in yesterday, Linda Goodman Robiner was here earlier this morning, and Dianne Borsenik will be coming in tonight. Susan and Christine will both be in again next week, as will Philip Metres. Meredith Holmes also recently signed up for a slot in the middle of the month....Christine she did say that she wrote a few poems while in the window - most of them being haikus, but still...."
Janet Cho has reported on the window writing at Cleveland.com this week, and you can read her article and see a photo of playwright and poet Christine Howey writing in the window here.
So it sounds pretty exciting. I'll be there this coming Wednesday, November 9th, so wave if you are strolling by on your way to Nightown or Aladdin's. Or better yet, come in and buy a book!
Location: 12419 Cedar Rd, Cleveland Heights, OH 44106
The Poet: Julie Ursem Marchand
Weekly, I am featuring a writer who use the prompts last April, and this week, Julie is up. This is who she is and what she had to say about the process of writing a poem a day for a month:
Julie Ursem Marchand is delighted to have one of her poems
featured in Diane Kendig’s blog topic A
Novel Idea for NaNoWriMo – Write Poetry! She looks forward to participating
in Cuyahoga County Public Library’s Read
+ Write: 30 Days of Poetry for National Poetry Month every April since it
began and encourages others to check it out. When Julie is not writing in
Elyria, she can be found sharing her love of reading and helping patrons use
the computers at the North Ridgeville Branch Library of the Lorain Public
Library System or acting on one of many area community theater stages. Her
poetry has been published in The Squire:
Grand Tournament III Anthology and The
Squire: Page-a-Day Poetry Anthology 2015 both by Writing Knights Press in
Cleveland, Ohio. She has also had poems included in the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology by Crisis Chronicles
Press from Cleveland and in Delirious - A
Poetic Celebration of Prince by NightBallet Press from Elyria in June. Her
poetry was broadcasted on Charles Cicirella’s Radio Ether program #876 and also had one of her poems published in
the digital June 2015 issue of The
People’s Tribune from Chicago. Julie has been one of the many featured
poets at two different Snoetry’s and was one of the three featured poets at the
newly relaunched Artists Unite! at Olde Towne Hall Theatre in North Ridgeville
this past March. Julie shares her love of the local poetry scene stretched
across northeast Ohio and is currently working on her first book of poetry. Her
first novel may also be in the works. Write on!
The Interview:
Q How many of the three years have you
used the prompts?
A: I have been using your prompts since
your 30 Days of Poetry began three years ago. A lot of us share the link to
your email registration on our facebook pages and I look forward to seeing
which poet you will feature that day. I am happy to say that I know many of
your featured poets every year.
Q: Have any of the poems been published
in print? Have you read them before at other readings?
A: I do not currently have any of these
poems published, but I will once my first book of poetry is published. I am
hoping to decide which poems I am going to include and where I am going to
submit them for publication soon. I have read several of the prompted poems at
many spoken word events in the area including a couple of Snoetry's. I am
usually at every Monday at Mahall's Poetry and Prose series on the first Monday
of every month. We are taking July off because the first Monday is July 4th,
but we will be back in August. I was the featured poet at Mahall's in May and I
read many of the prompted poems then.
Q: Are there any of the prompts that
seem to work better for you? that don't work?
A: My favorite prompts are the ones
that involve trying out a different writing format or style. I never tried
writing an etheree or twitter style poem before, but they have quickly become
favorites and I will write poems like that again. Some of the poems about
different topics can be more difficult, but it is important to think outside of
the box and try something new. Every writer and poet can go through bouts of
writer's block and even start to feel stale. I get inspired by hearing other
writers and poets in our area and following prompts like the ones that you put
together can help me think about things in a new way and make me a better
writer in the long run.
Q: Do you know anyone else who has been
writing to them?
A: I know Kathleen Gallagher whom you
featured early on this year. She enjoyed the pictures I took of my spine poem
and shared them on Google Images as examples of spine poetry with my
permission. I also know Steve and Theresa Gottl Brightman promote your 30 Days
of Poetry event every year. I can ask my friends to see how many have written
poems based off of your writing prompts. I don't get on facebook everyday, so
it can be a little easy for me to lose touch with what everyone is doing
sometimes.
Q: Would you send me your favorite
poem? (Again, I wouldn't use it without permission.)
A: My favorite poem is the etheree poem
I named Daydream. I never heard of that poetry style before, but it came
together so beautifully even before I gave it a minor revision:
Daydream
(etheree poem for April
28, 2016)
I
wish that
I could fall
down the rabbit
hole like Alice and
escape the sheer
madness
of this world to a
place full
of smoke and mirror
nonsense where
we can quietly sip at
our tea
feeling perfectly at
home with chaos.
I’d laugh and show
you our abode behind
the rose bushes where
all our dreams and
wild adventures will
begin
beneath the toadstool
of the
Caterpillar smiling
up at the Cheshire
Cat winking back
and we won’t
come back
up.
-Julie Ursem Marchand
Q: Could you tell me about yourself as
a poet? How long have you been writing poetry? How does it fit into the rest of
your life?
A: I am from and still live in Elyria,
Ohio. I have been writing poetry and stories since I was a kid, but I didn't
start really getting into writing until I was in high school. I wrote a lot
when I was in college and thought that I would write even more once I graduated
and got a real job. HA! I learned just how funny life could be in that respect.
It wasn't until I started going to spoken word events a few years ago that I
felt brave enough to pick up the pen again and make time for myself to
discover my true voice.
No comments:
Post a Comment