The WordPlay Word-zine Volume VII, Issue 12 March 19, 2018 Dear ,
This week, I'm weaving together three concepts: "herd," "travel," and, of course, "living a literary life"—because your interest in this last one is the reason you receive this zine in the first place,
right? I'm taking my cue from this week's featured writing, a literary work called "Cattle Fording Tarryall Creek." The herd and the travel show up before you get any further than the title!
There are lots of ways to bring these three things together, starting with a "herd" we all belong to, for better or for worse: our family.
One absolute "for better" member of my family herd is my son Dan, whose birthday is the day before St. Patrick's Day. Here he is, celebrating with his girlfriend Allison at the U.S. National Whitewater Center.
And travel? Well, Dan travels all around the country for a living, giving demonstrations of high end sound and video equipment for a company called SSL, and one of his social media "handles" is dgriffgoesplaces. He
comes from, as he puts it, a family of "road warriors" who will hop in the car at the drop of a hat to visit someone or somewhere.
Lastly, that "literary life" part. I'll let him tell you, via part of a message he posted:
Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes. I’m happy and thankful to have enjoyed another year on this amazing planet. Special thanks to allyb for always making me feel awesome and maureenryangriffin for writing a book about my life, not many people get to ever have one of those!
#bestmom # bookofdan #therightswipe #whitewatercenter #greenriver #charlotte #north carolina #radbirthday #29th
Word-zine readers who have been in Gift of Memoir class will be pleased to know that, indeed, at long last, I finished my son's book that was originally meant to be a
college graduation present. At least he was still in his 20s! And, wow, did it feel good to watch him go through it page by page, sharing details with Allison...
But enough about me. I wanted you to know about an opportunity for
members of the WordPlay herd (and any friends/family that wants to come along) to travel to Union, South Carolina for a free literary event: the eighth annual Upcountry Literary Festival this Friday, March 23rd from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, March
24th from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. by the University of South Carolina: Union. A number of renowned authors, poets, and musical artists will be showcased at this free public event not far from Charlotte. (From my house it's about an hour and a half.)
If you're able, would you like to
come? I'll be reading on Friday afternoon, and would love to organize some carpooling to make it easy for WordPlayers to take advantage of this event. I went last year
and enjoyed it very much! And I am really looking forward to meeting keynote speaker Catharine
Savage Brosman, who is also our featured writer this week—please scroll down to read about her and read an excerpt from one of her beautiful poems. I am hooked by the name of the creek alone, tarry being a word I just love. She'll be speaking at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 23rd, not long after my reading. For more information, please visit the University of South Carolina website here: http://www.sc.edu/about/system_and_campuses/union/experience/literaryfestival/literaryfestivalnews/index.ph
Just
hit "reply" if you'd like to check into carpooling possibilities for Friday.
If you're not from the Charlotte area, I apologize for tantalizing you with this offer. :) My assistant, Morgan, and I have been trying to figure out how to segment our list for these kinds of local events.
We're not there yet, but it is something we're looking into. I trust you'll get value from Catherine Savage Brosman's lovely poem, as well as this week's prompt. Happy herding, traveling, and writing!
Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW
ABOUT POETRY
* But Were Afraid to
Ask
There are at least ten thousand ways to write a poem! In this lively presentation about the art and craft of poetry based on Maureen’s latest book of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can’t Be Wrong, participants will learn how content, sound and form work together, and get to try their hand at the process. They’ll
also have the opportunity to ask every question they’ve ever had about poetry.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 11th, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. until noon
SPINNING WORDS INTO GOLD Does writing fulfill you? Do you wish you were writing more? Jumpstart your writing life and learn to keep your words flowing. Learn specific techniques and exercises to create nonfiction, poetry and/or fiction. Whether you would like to keep a journal for your own personal growth, spin stories for your loved ones, or further a career as a professional writer, experience the satisfaction of developing a writing practice
that works for you—come spin words into gold.
WHERE: John Campbell Folk School. 1 Folk School Road, Brasstown, NC 28902
WHEN: Sunday, May 6th through Saturday, May 12th, 2018
COST: $630 (plus room and
board)
TO REGISTER: To register, click this link to be taken to the John Campbell Folk School website to register.
Other News
JOIN ME AT
SENSORIA: A CELEBRATION OF LITERATURE & THE ARTS!
I hope you can join me and my beloved teacher, mentor and friend Irene for this year's Irene Blair Honeycutt Legacy Award Presentation and Reading ( it's free, as are most Sensoria events, and it's on Monday, April 9th at 7 p.m. (preceded by a reception at 6 p.m.). More important, I hope you come for as many Sensoria events as you can make it to! You'll be glad you did. Full schedule here.
Featured Writer
Catharine Savage Brosman
Catharine Savage Brosman, who now lives in Houston, is professor emerita of French at Tulane University. She is the author of numerous books of French literary history and criticism, two volumes of nonfiction prose, and seven collections of poetry, including most recently Range of Light and Breakwater.
(bio courtesy of amazon.com) Featured Writing
"Cattle Fording Tarryall Creek" by Catharine Savage Brosman
. . . [The cows] continuing their march, as if by word, down valley to fresh pasture. The elect, and stragglers, join, and recompose the herd, both multiple and single, to perfect impressions of an animated scene, the creek’s meanders, milling cows, and sun. . . .
The poem can be read in its entirety here:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56523/cattle-fording-tarryall-creek
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 "herd."
PROMPT: Click this link if
you haven't already read "Cattle Fording Tarryall Creek" in its entirety, and note the gorgeous rendering of a real life scene is if it were a painting. Your mission is to do the same—using either a real-life scene you encounter this week, one you remember, or one in a photograph. Bring the scene vividly to life through your description and word choices. If you prefer prose to poetry, no worries!
And if you want to use this description as a part of a scene in something you're writing, that's great, too. As you're doing the writing, you have the "living a literary life" part handled. So all you need to do is include some kind of "herd" and some kind of "travel."
It's fun to play with prompts in community with fellow writers, and to be able to share the results when you're done. You can find out about WordPlay classes, workshops, and retreats here. 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. You can listen to it here. 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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