Volume III, Issue 45 December 8, 2014 |
Dear ,
My grandson Rhys, pictured above with his mom and dad, knows all about joy, and I thought about him (and this upside down photo) when I read a recent "American Life in Poetry" Column in which Stuart Kestenbaum compares the letter 'j' to "an upside
down cane that helps/us walk in a new way into this/forest of language, where all the letters/are beginning to speak" after encountering a 'j' in a bowl of alphabet soup. Now there's a man after my own heart! So much so that his poem inspired three prompts! (You can pick and choose, or do them all.)
It is such a joy
to share my love of language with Rhys, and, just for fun, I'm going to make him alphabet soup this Friday.
Ted Kooser, former U.S. Poet Laureate and the creator of the weekly "American Life in Poetry" is a man after my own heart too. I'm sharing his Column 505 with you as this week's featured writing, in the hopes that Kestenbaum's "Prayer for Joy" will brighten your week, and that you'll find Kooser's column a
good resource. You can have it delivered straight to your inbox if you like it.
Have a joy-filled week,
Maureen Upcoming WordPlay
WordPlay WINTER WRITING RETREAT (Writing — and More — as Renewal / Creating New Writing) Renew and delight yourself. The Winter Writing Retreat is an opportunity to create new pieces of writing and/or new possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal
prompts; they have not failed to elicit beautiful material that can be shaped into essays, poems, stories, or articles. After a communal lunch, you’ll have private time which can be used to collage, work with a piece of writing from the morning, or play with a number of other writing prompts and methods. You’ll take home new ideas, new drafts, and new possibilities. $97 includes lunch and supplies.WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration.
WHEN: Saturday, December 20, 2014, 10 am – 5 pm TO REGISTER: Register online here. Or email info@wordplaynow.com for details on registering via mail.
CHECK OUT THIS UPCOMING OPPORTUNITY, TAUGHT BY WORDPLAY CREATIVE CONSULTANT WENDY GILL*. THE ARTIST'S WAY: A
Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Expanding Our Creativity; Creating Joy and Fulfillment in Our Lives) Are you ready to discover the
joy of creativity? Using the proven tools and structure of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, this course will spur your imagination and guide your journey toward creative self-expression.
Our 2-hour sessions include weekly check-ins, hands-on activities, and creativity exercises. The encouragement and support of this small in-person community (what Julia Cameron calls a “creative
cluster”) will help you fully experience the power of The Artist’s Way.
COST: $195 for 13 two-hour sessions over 13 weeks WHERE: Downtown Matthews, NC WHEN:
Thursday evenings, 7-9 PM, January 8 – April 2, 2015
*Wendy H.
Gill was a special education teacher for 22 years. One of her greatest joys as an educator was adapting stories, rhymes and songs to engage her students and instill a love of books. She left full-time teaching in 2000 to create a literacy enrichment program for young children. She is currently a writer, producer, and the owner of Professional Communications, a creative video production agency. Her poems and essays have appeared in a variety of regional and national publications.
More WordPlay opportunities here. American Life in Poetry: Column
505 BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE
Stuart Kestenbaum is a Maine poet with a new book, Only Now, from Deerbrook Editions. In it are a number of thoughtful poems posed as prayers, and here’s an
example: Prayer for Joy
What was it we wanted to say anyhow, like today when there were all the letters in my alphabet soup and suddenly the ‘j’ rises to the surface. The ‘j’, a letter that might be great for Scrabble, but not really used for much else, unless we need to jump for
joy, and then all of a sudden it’s there and ready to help us soar and to open up our hearts at the same time, this simple line with a curved bottom, an upside down cane that helps us walk in a new way into this forest of language, where all the letters are beginning to speak, finding each other in just the right
combination to be understood.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2014 by Stuart Kestenbaum, “Prayer for Joy”
from Only Now,(Deerbrook Editions, 2014). Poem reprinted by permission of Stuart Kestenbaum and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2014 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "joy." PROMPT:
Why
not take on having a joyful week and do all these choices before next Monday?
Choice 1:
Mull over your best experiences with language -- times when you, like Stuart Kestenbaum in his poem "Prayer for Joy" above encountered a letter, a
word, a phrase that delighted you. Choose one and write about it, in any form/genre you like.
Choice 2:
Write about a time you (or a character) experienced a moment of joy.
Choice
3:
Do at least one thing today that makes you feel joyous -- whether it's curling up with a book and a cup of tea, dancing solo in your living room to a song you love, phoning a beloved friend, or... (insert something you love to do here.)
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word
work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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