Volume VII, Issue 33 August 20,
2018 Dear ,
Oh, what joy for a poetry lover like me to discover "traveling stanzas" here at Chautauqua Institution!
Traveling Stanzas, an outreach of Kent State University's Wick Poetry Center, teamed with Chautauqua to create "Chautauqua Makerspace," a very cool interactive poetry exhibit that inspires, honors, and connects human beings.
Why stanzas? To quote The Wick Poetry Center:
"We turn to poetry to give voice to what is troubling us, to honor what we love, to make sense of our lives, to remember our past, and to commemorate what we’ve lost. From the Italian, stanza means a room—a place to pause. Indeed, Traveling Stanzas offers individuals moments of pause, pockets of time, with which to slow down and reflect on their lives, their city, and a shared experience of their community."
Here I am with founder of Traveling Stanzas, David Hassler, and Sony Ton-Aime, who also works for Wick Poetry Center and was a wonderful part of my "Makerspace" experience.
And why home?
Well, you see, Traveling Stanzas has greeting cards for sale that combine poems written by children with beautiful art, and the one called "Home" caught my eye. Written by a then second grader named Isabella Rodriguez, it reminded me of an exercise from one of Natalie Goldberg's books: to write about home, without referring to any physical building. In the "place to pause" that Traveling Stanzas provided, I was reminded by
Isabella's poem of how many places I feel at home, mountains—and Chautauqua, and, for that matter, poems—among them.
Scroll on down and enjoy Isabella's illustrated poem. You'll be experiencing a bit of Traveling Stanzas yourself.
May this week provide many "pockets of time" in which you find yourself at home, wherever you may be.
Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
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).
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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).
Featured Writing
Home
by
Isabella Rodriguez
(as a 2nd grader at Walls Elementary School) 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 "home."
PROMPT: Two options this week! Choose one, or do them both.
- Try your hand at writing a few stanzas of your own, even if you've never written poetry before. You might want to start with the word "Suppose."
- Try Natalie Goldberg's prompt (as best as I can remember it). Set a timer for ten minutes and write about
home, without referring to any physical building.
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.
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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