Volume V, Issue 47 November 21, 2016 Word of the Week: poultry Dear ,
Happy Thanksgiving week! I know very well what bird we associate with this holiday, but I
couldn't resist broadening the word of the week to include Cornish hens, duck, and, yes, chickens.
In fact, I've been waiting to use this word-of-the-week ever since September, when WordPlayer Drew Harkey from my Thursday evening Under Construction class gifted me with this photo he took on Charlotte's own
I-77 North.
(I love that Drew knew how much I would love this photo! One of the things I'm thankful for all year long are the marvelous "word gifts" my students and clients send my way, from poems to novels to songs to
images...)
You may have to look at it for a moment to discover what makes the image remarkable. Go ahead! I'll wait.
Okay! You're
back! That means you found the escapee...
I always enjoy hearing the way prompts come alive in so many fascinating ways in the hands of my fabulous writing students, but this one was especially fun. Of course, the theme of liberation came up in a number of pieces, but only one piece featured a bona fide bird rescue. How can you not love a
novelist whose main character takes in a brave, if foolhardy, chicken? And who is able to make this rescue a perfect and inevitable plot point?
And I do love Dana Kumerow, whose novel I get to watch take shape each week in my Wednesday morning Under Construction class. Like me, she's a proud word
nerd who never passes up an opportunity to play with words. An excerpt from her novel is below, and, yes, it's one that features poultry. After all, there's nothing paltry about anyone's instinct to make the world better for someone else, even if that anyone is
fictional and that someone is a chicken.
Love and light, with a huge helping of thankfulness, Upcoming WordPlay
WINTER WRITING RETREAT (Writing as Renewal/Creating New Writing/
Tools for a Writing
Life)
Renew and delight yourself. The Winter Writing Retreat is an opportunity to create new pieces of writing and/or possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal prompts; they 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 17th, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
TO REGISTER: To pay with a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions. Click here to pay online, using PayPal.
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
(Wednesday mornings) (Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals;
Creating New Writing; Revising & Polishing Your
Writing)
This class is designed to fulfill your writing dreams and projects. You’ll set goals and support structures and watch your writing flow! You’ll also get feedback on your work (any genre) and learn revision tools and methods. Each week, writing prompts will generate material for new writing or further a piece in
process, whatever your preferred genre. Through examples of accomplished writers, you’ll learn techniques to aid you right where you are in the process.
WHEN: Wednesday mornings, 10:00 to noon, starting in January, 2017.
TO REGISTER: If you’re interested in attending, please email us at info@wordplaynow.com to be put on the waiting list.
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
(Tuesday evenings) (Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals;
Creating New Writing; Revising & Polishing Your Writing)
This class is designed to fulfill your writing dreams and projects. You’ll set
goals and support structures and watch your writing flow! You’ll also get feedback on your work (any genre) and learn revision tools and methods. Each week, writing prompts will generate material for new writing or further a piece in process, whatever your preferred genre. Through examples of accomplished writers, you’ll learn techniques to aid you right where you are in the process.
WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration. WHEN: Tuesday mornings, 7:00 to 9:00, starting January, 2017. TO REGISTER: If you’re interested in attending, please email us at info@wordplaynow.com to be put on the waiting list.
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GIFT OF MEMOIR
(Preserving Family History/Writing for and about Your Family/The Art of Memoir) Our life stories are a precious legacy. Putting them in writing is a gift
to all who know and love us—they can be treasured and enjoyed for generations to come. It is also a gift to ourselves. As best-selling author Rachel Naomi Remen says in her book Kitchen Table Wisdom, facts bring us to knowledge, but stories bring us to wisdom. If you are interested in writing family and/or personal life stories—those significant tales of adventure, transition, love, loss, and triumph, as well as lovely everyday moments from times past or the present, come learn
specific tools and techniques to retrieve and record them.
WHEN: Thursday mornings, 10:00 to noon, starting in January, 2017.
REGISTER: If you’re interested in attending, please email us at info@wordplaynow.com to be put on the waiting
list.
More WordPlay opportunities here. WordPlay Success Story
"I am so thrilled to have found a patient and wise instructor in Maureen and a like-minded group of writers in the Wednesday morning [Under Construction] class."
Meet Dana Kumerow Dana Kumerow spent 35 rewarding years as a classroom teacher. Her teaching experience ranged from pre-kindergarten through middle school in
both public and private settings. She also served as a teacher trainer and workshop leader in the areas of literature, writing and science for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system. Since retiring in 2013, Dana has been pursuing her “second act” as a writer. She is currently making revisions to her first novel while she keeps a running list of all of the other story ideas she wants to pursue. Dana also teaches beginning fiction and memoir classes for senior adults at the Levine Jewish
Community Center. You can find her online at her blog, writingtowardhome.com where she touts writing as a form of self-expression available to everyone. Her Wordplay Wednesday posts on the blog provide fun ideas and exercises that encourage the writer in all of us to come out and play. You can also find her on Facebook and Pinterest where she embraces her love of words, books,
quotes, art and dancing.
What Dana says about
WordPlay
I am a self-professed Word Nerd. I love playing around with words and ideas and discovering what emerges. My head is always humming with ideas for stories and poems just begging for attention. My love of writing began at age 8 when a poem I wrote was displayed in the main lobby of my elementary school. I was hooked! I filled
notebooks with poems and stories and even created a neighborhood newspaper. As an adult, I have taken writing classes at CPCC, Queen’s University and online with the hope of creating and publishing a novel. I learned various fiction techniques and skills, but not how to actually construct a novel from beginning to end. Three years ago, I participated in the NANOWRIMO challenge to complete a first draft in 30 days. I succeeded in completing the rough draft, but I have spent the time since
struggling to revise and polish my story on my own.
This summer I participated in one of Maureen’s one-day retreats. It was one of the best days of writing I have ever experienced. I immediately signed up for the fall Under Construction class and I am so delighted that I did. The instruction, feedback,
encouragement and camaraderie of the class has provided me with just what I needed to infuse my work with the life and fullness it lacked. I am so thrilled to have found a patient and wise instructor in Maureen and a like-minded group of writers in the Wednesday morning class. The expectations, rigor, constructive critiques and sense of community are providing me with the energy and confidence to complete my goal.
Featured
Writing
An excerpt from
Home to Matisse by
Dana Kumerow
Jenny fiddled with the radio, hunting for something in the static. As she eased onto the highway she found a country station playing something unrecognizable but catchy. She was learning to appreciate yet another style of music, and so, she guessed, was her dog Watson. She gave him a pat, then tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and glanced up at the sky. Looked like rain. She hoped it would hold off until later.
A truck laden with what looked like giant multi-colored Lego bricks eased in front of her as another bright yellow semi roared past. Jenny squinted, trying to figure out what the truck was carrying. Were those cages?
“Oh gosh!” Her attention was drawn to something atop the colorful pile of cargo. Was that a chicken? She squinted.
What’s a live chicken doing up there?
She had witnessed many unusual sights since entering the South, but this had to be the strangest one so far. She watched the chicken’s feathers ruffling in the breeze. What should she do? She realized the truck was likely carrying chickens to a processing plant. Was this a valiant or foolish bird? Did the truck driver know or even care that he had
an escapee?
Jenny found herself cheering for the chicken, but wondered if it was simply trading one form of death for another. How much longer could it hold on? She noticed the truck slowing and its right blinker light come on. Without thinking, Jenny followed it up the exit ramp. When the truck reached the top, it stopped at the traffic light. Jenny began yelling, “Jump!
Jump!”
The windblown bird seemed to realize this was its last chance. It hopped to the edge of the cages and then flapped and fluttered awkwardly down to the ground, where it plopped into a dried mud puddle along the shoulder. The truck driver, unaware that his manifest was now down one passenger, pulled away as the light turned green. Jenny looked in her rearview mirror, made a quick right turn
and pulled the bus onto the road’s graveled edge. “Stay here,” she said to Watson.
She eased around the front of the vehicle and tiptoed slowly toward the disheveled, dazed chicken. “Hello, there,” she crooned. “What a daring girl you are. It’s ok. You’re safe now.”
The hen cast a frantic
eye in her direction and fluffed its feathers. It produced a strangled squawk and tried to edge away. Jenny squatted and held out her hands. “It’s ok. Shh, shh.”
Food. She needed something to offer as a sign of her intent. Of course. She dug into the pocket of her jeans for the ubiquitous dog biscuit, which she crumbled between her fingers. She knelt in from of the leery bird and
sprinkled a few particles on the ground. The hen cocked her head and eyed the offering. It gave Jenny a look that telegraphed “don’t you try anything” before craning her neck and pecking at the crumbs. When they were gone the bird scrutinized Jenny’s cupped palms containing the rest of the food. She took a hesitant step forward, lowered her head and began to eat. When the food was gone, so was the hen’s wary posture. She sank into the dirt and returned Jenny’s steady
gaze.
“Now,” Jenny said, “I’m going to pick you up. I’m not sure what I’ll do with you, but for the moment I’m your best chance for survival.” She slowly circled her hands around the chicken’s plump little body and pulled it into her lap. “What boldness and courage you displayed! I think I will call you Amelia, after another fearless female flier.” Jenny stood and took careful steps back toward
the bus. “We brave and adventurous women need to stick together, you know.”
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 "poultry."
PROMPT: Your turn! Spend a few moments studying the "poultry escape" photo, which I've copied right above for your ease. Create your own piece of writing based on this image, whether it poetry or prose, truth or fiction.
And/or, write about any "poultry" experience you care to. Again, nonfiction or fiction, in any genre of your choice. (My first time of ever cooking a turkey myself comes to mind.)
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 three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. One of her long-held dreams came true in July of 2015 when Garrison Keillor read one of her poems on The Writer's Almanac. 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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