The WordPlay Word-zine Volume VII, Issue 23 June 11, 2018 Word of the Week: comeback Dear ,
Just had to share the (to me, at least) incredibly good news that Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac is making a comeback. And not only are there now new episodes, but the archives are all back as well. You'll find new Writer's Almanac episodes here and the archives here.
A huge thanks to WordPlayer Mary Herbert Love for alerting me to this comeback. While I don't condone Keillor's misconduct, his contribution to the writing community through The Writer's Almanac is so large, and I have missed his gorgeous voice. No one reads a poem like Garrison Keillor.
I had to smile when I read this opening to one of the stories
on Keillor's new website titled "Someone to Sit Next to Me" that speaks of comebacks: There was so much good
news last week. Gorillas appear to be thriving, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, and there are about 361,919 of them, twice as many as had been believed. Humpback whales, who were nearly hunted out of existence in the 19th century, are making a comeback in the seas off Antarctica: the birth rate is on the upswing, according to a new study. (The animals are the size of a school bus and have a life expectancy similar to ours.) And a study at the
University of Michigan shows that people who work out even 10 minutes a day tend to be more cheerful than those who don’t. This is science, people. This isn’t fake news. These conclusions are based on actual facts established through observation by people who can count. What I learn from this is that it
brightens your day to skip the front-page stuff about Washington and focus on science.... (You can read the rest of the story here.) I share this in honor of last week's word—isn't that a nice
synchronicity? And so is the fact that, the night before I listened to the June 7th episode of The Writer's Almanac that features Christina Rossetti's poem "A Green Cornfield," I'd been reading a chapter of a wonderful book called Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants and been struck by these
gorgeous words "The corn stands eight feet tall; rippling green ribbons of leaf curl away from the stem in every direction to catch the sun. No
leaf sits directly over the next, so that each can gather light without shadowing the others." Synchronicities abound! Can I call the fact that I'm leading a workshop on "The Nurturing Nature of Words" this Saturday another synchronicity? That's stretching it! Still, I hope you can join me. Details below.
Now scroll on down for Rossetti's beautiful poem and this week's prompt. Wishing you synchronicities and comebacks abounding.
Love and light,
Maureen Upcoming WordPlay
THE NURTURING NATURE OF WORDS
Come explore the benefits writing can provide—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—in this workshop that provides a number of fun, easy tools and methods to help your words flow, whatever your particular interest, including writing about the natural world. (The Piedmont Physic Garden is a perfect setting for this.) These tools can be used in journaling, memoir, poetry, fiction, and/or
nonfiction. Whether you have published widely, sometimes write in a journal, or haven’t written anything since your senior year of high school, you will enjoy this lively, informative workshop. WHERE: Piedmont Physic Garden, 301 East South Street. Union, SC 29379. WHEN: Saturday June 16 from 10 a.m. - noon COST: General admission is $20. PPG members receive a discount.
TO REGISTER: Those interested in attending the workshop should visit www.piedmontphysicgarden.org/events.html or call 864-427-2556.
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EVERY PICTURE HOLDS A STORY - WEEK 8 Writing Class at Chautauqua
Would you enjoy using favorite photographs and other visual images as springboards to write fiction, nonfiction, and/or poetry, and/or capture family stories? Then come learn some fun, easy methods to get started. We’ll also look at
some ways successful writers have used images to inspire their words. If you like, bring your own pictures and photographs of things you’d enjoy writing about. A variety of images will be provided, too.
COURSE
NO: 1710 WHEN: Monday, August 13th – Wednesday, August 15th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. LOCATION: Turner 105, Chautauqua Institution. 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722. COST: $85 TO REGISTER: To
register online, please click this link to be taken to the Chautauqua Institution website.
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WRITING OUR WAY TO HAPPINESS - WEEK 9 Writing Class at Chautauqua
Come explore time-tested ways writing can increase your happiness level. This class will jumpstart your pen and provide
inspiration and knowledge about the process of creative writing, whether your genre is nonfiction, fiction, or poetry. Ideal for beginners, and those interested in expanding their writing -for personal growth or for publication.
COURSE NO: 1712 WHEN: Monday, August 20th – Thursday, August 23rd, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. LOCATION: Hultquist, 201B, Chautauqua Institution. 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722. COST: $99 TO REGISTER: To register online, please click this link to be taken to the Chautauqua Institution website.
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
NOW TAKING REGISTRATIONS FOR FALL 2018! 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.
* For the benefit of participants, an audio recording of the class will be made
each week so that participants are able to listen to classes they miss and/or review material covered at any convenient time and place. These recordings are available throughout the class session, along with all handouts, in a shared Dropbox folder.
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Recreation Center, 1000 East Morehead Street, Charlotte, 28204. Click here for map. WHEN: Wednesday mornings from 10:00 a.m. – noon, starting in September 2018. (Other class time/day of the week may be available.) COST: $435 TO REGISTER: Please email us at info@wordplaynow.com to start the registration process by filling out a short "Clarity Tool" to share your writing dreams and goals and where you are in the process (anywhere you are is a perfect place to begin).
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GIFT OF
MEMOIR WRITING PERSONAL AND FAMILY STORIES (Preserving Family History; Writing for and about Your Family; The Art of Memoir)
NOW TAKING REGISTRATIONS FOR FALL
2018! 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.
* For the benefit of participants, an audio recording of the class will be made each week so that participants are able to listen to classes they miss and/or review material covered at any convenient time and place. These recordings are available throughout the class session, along with all handouts, in a shared Dropbox
folder.
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Recreation Center, 1000 East Morehead
Street, Charlotte, 28204. Click here for map. WHEN: Thursday mornings, 10:00 a.m. – noon., starting in September, 2018. COST: $285 TO REGISTER: Please
email us at info@wordplaynow.com to start the registration process by filling out a short "Clarity Tool" to share your writing dreams and goals and where you are in the process (anywhere you are is a perfect place to begin).
A Green Cornfield
by
Christina Rossetti The earth was green, the sky was blue: I saw
and heard one sunny morn A skylark hang between the two, A singing speck above the corn;
A stage below, in gay accord, White butterflies danced on the wing, And still the singing skylark soared, And silent sank and
soared to sing.
The cornfield stretched a tender green To right and left beside my walks; I knew he had a nest unseen Somewhere among the million stalks.
And as I paused to hear his song While swift the sunny moments slid, Perhaps his mate sat listening long, And listened longer than I did.
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 "comeback."
PROMPT: Write a scene, story, essay, or poem that features a comeback, yours or anyone else's, real or fictional.
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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