Volume VIII, Issue 11
March 18, 2019
Word of the Week: tooty-falooty
Dear ,
Though I didn't know I've always wanted a chance to use "tooty-falooty" as the word of the week, turns out that the minute I heard this word I discovered I have! This word, introduced to me by a poet and friend I have known and adored for more than 25 years now, the marvelous Dede Wilson, was a new one, and completely
original (at least as far as Google is concerned), but I knew immediately it was a kissing cousin of another word I loved upon first hearing it, "highfalutin," as in pompous or pretentious. Which Dede never is.
Although she is an amazing hostess with more artistic flair in her little finger than I have in my whole body. To show you what I mean, here's a photo of the two of us back in 1994, at the book party she threw for me shortly after my first poetry chapbook, When the Leaves Are in the Water, came out.
While I hate that her eyes were closed (remember that we couldn't look at how a photo came out right after we took it back in those days), I want you to see the beautiful centerpiece of "leaves in water" she made for me, and how gorgeous her dining room always is.
And here we are last summer after one of our lunch dates, because even though we aren't in the same poetry group anymore, it's imperative that we get together on some kind of regular
basis!
Dede just gets more and more beautiful with each passing year, and we still laugh together and swap stories and celebrate each other's successes. Dede is still teaching me so much about how to write a poem! Her latest success is a book of poetry entitled Mrs. H and Her Tooty-Falooty Ways. (You knew something like this was coming, right?) I'm going to let three fine writers do the honors of telling you about this book:
These witty, inventive, and heartbreaking poems snap together like the chapters of a well-paced novella. An adolescent narrator, stationing herself on the edges of her friend’s family, peeks beneath the glittering surfaces of late 1940s privilege—Mrs. H’s monogrammed linen, Mr. H’s polished Bentley, extravagant gifts for their
daughter—to discover loneliness and disorder in rooms “so quiet you want to go home.” Like the imprint of red lipstick the enigmatic Mrs. H. leaves on the martini glass, the poems in Dede Wilson’s newest book leave their unmistakable imprints on the reader’s memory. ~ Rebecca McClanahan
Despite
its lighthearted title, this collection has a richly-textured poignancy to it. Its naïve, worshipful lamb of a narrator recreates the lost world of Mrs. H and her family, with all its terrible cracks and flaws, down to the flourish of a cigarette holder and red lipstick on a crystal martini glass. The dramatic power with which these characters are rendered floors me: Mrs. H. “laughing her laugh that has no laughter in it,” her daughter who “stays in love with trouble,” Mr. H. in his monogrammed
dressing gown. Nostalgic, whimsical, often wickedly funny, these poems are a bittersweet joy. ~ David E. Poston, author of Slow of Study
Isn’t it
nice once in a while to open a collection of poems and chuckle from beginning to end? So it goes with Dede Wilson’s book, MRS. H. AND HER TOOTY-FALOOTY WAYS. Birds on a wire flutter at the sound of her voice, and people sigh when she comes their way, we are told. Impossible! you say of this woman, but in truth haven’t you known someone who closely resembles her? Mrs. H.—a fascination! I
found it hard to close the book, find it easy to open again and again. ~ Julie Suk
Speaking of chuckling, the poem I've chosen for this week's featured writing made me laugh out loud, perhaps because I feel a sneaky sympathy for Mrs. H! Not that I'm tooty-falooty, mind you, but because I could so easily see myself making the same move, maybe or maybe not deliberately! If I've piqued your curiosity, read on. You won't be disappointed!
Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
THE SEVEN ENERGIES OF WRITING
A Holistic, Whole Brain Approach, With Accompanying Tools and Strategies To Enhance Creativity, Productivity, and Writing Pleasure
If you’ve ever had a hard time getting started writing, finishing what you’ve begun, or gotten stuck in the middle (AKA writer’s block), knowing how to engage in the most helpful “energy of writing” for you at each stage of your process—and on any given day—will be a game-changer. In this class, we’ll explore—and practice—the ins, outs, and benefits of all seven energies of writing.
You’ll learn invaluable tools and strategies you’ll use again and again to write with maximum ease and effectiveness. Yes, you can be more productive, creative, and fulfilled, no matter what kind of writing you do or how experienced you are.
WHEN: Saturday, March 30th, 1 – 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: The WordPlay Studio, South Charlotte
COST for Workshop and Materials: $67
TO REGISTER: To register for The Seven Energies of Writing online, click here.
Or email info@wordplaynow.com for details on registering by check via mail.
Class size limited to 12
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THE UPCOUNTRY LITERARY FESTIVAL
Each year, poets, musicians, novelists, oral storytellers, playwrights, essayists and short-story writers gather on the campus of USC Union
(in Union, South Carolina) The 2019 Literary Festival will be held on Friday, March 22nd from 1:00-5:00 and on Saturday, March 23rd from 9:00-1:00. This event is free to everyone and will be held in the auditorium at USC Union's Main Building. Check it out here.
2019 Literary Festival Keynote
The Upcountry Literary Festival is honored to announce the keynote speaker this year will be Bobbie Ann Mason. Mason was raised on her family’s farm in western Kentucky. She earned her B.A. in English at the University of Kentucky in 1962, her M.A. at the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1966, and her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut in 1972. Her first short stories were published in The New Yorker
during the 1980s renaissance of short story. Mason’s first book of fiction won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was nominated for the American Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She received an Arts and Letters Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is former writer-in-residence at the University of Kentucky. Mason will also be awarded the William ‘Singing Billy’ Award for Lifetime Achievement in Southern Letters from USC
Union.
I am so excited and honored to be on the same program with Bobbie Ann Mason and can't wait to hear her speak on Friday afternoon!
THE GIFT OF MEMOIR: WRITING PERSONAL AND
FAMILY STORIES
(Telling Your Own Truth; 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—of adventure, transition, love, loss, and/or triumph, as well as lovely everyday moments from times past or the present—come learn
easy, enjoyable tools and techniques for retrieving, recording, and arranging them. Suitable for writers of all levels.
WHEN: Thursday, March 21, at 7:00-8:30
WHERE: Union County Historical Society, 127 W Main St, Union, South Carolina 29379
COST: Free
WRITE LIKE A GENIUS
AT THE JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL
(Expanding Our Creativity; Learning New Tools for Our Writing and Our Lives; Creating New Writing)
Discover your own genius as you learn to apply seven fascinating approaches of Leonardo da Vinci to your writing. These techniques enliven non-fiction, poetry and fiction. Expect fun, inspiration and writing galore in your preferred genre, with opportunities to share
your work.
WHERE: John Campbell Folk School, 1 Folk School Road, Brasstown, NC 28902
WHEN: Sunday, May 26th – Saturday, June 1st, 2019
COST is $630 for one week-long session
(lodging and meals are additional – options can be found on the Folk School website)
TO REGISTER: To register, please click this link to register through the John Campbell Folk School website.
Class size limited to 8.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
"...those who've taken [Maureen's] classes would say
she doesn't just teach, she inspires."
Poet Dede Wilson, a native of Louisiana, has always been a writer. She remembers, as a teen, hauling a dictionary into bed to write poems with new words she'd find. She was editor of her high school newspaper and a
journalism major at LSU. After graduation she returned home and worked as obit editor of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk. When she moved to Dallas, she joined the staff of the Dallas Times Herald and eventually was named Travel Editor, a job that took her all over the world. Adventure sought her, she likes to say. She was chased by a wild bull elephant in East Africa, had a dinner date with Rod Serling in Venezuela, shopped in the Market of the Bed Bugs in Hong Kong, floated on the Dead Sea in
Israel, sailed on a leaky sailboat with one son in Japan and traveled as a groupie with her younger son, a bluegrass musician, throughout Norway. She saw President Kennedy in Dallas moments before he was shot then wrote a story on Lady Bird Johnson for a London newspaper. Dede moved to Charlotte, her husband's hometown, in 1967. Her husband Maurice does not like to fly, so the two of them made three road trips from here to California, whirls around the entire United States. Dede says she's been
everywhere but Miami and the state of Maine. And there's nowhere she'd rather be than home. With words in mind.
What Dede says about WordPlay
I'm sitting here, sharing a piece of chocolate cake with Maureen. The titter and shuffle of meeting again has finally subsided into reminiscence, the savor of cake and sips of very strong coffee. To stay in touch,
Maureen and I meet for an annual lunch every February. We catch up, laugh, complain. At some point I always exclaim: I can't believe that I am 20 years older than you! We are the same. Two women who dote on words and family and confusion. I could say we share busy-ness, but Maureen has me beat. No one is busier than Maureen Ryan Griffin. And few accomplish more.
In this friend, this woman, there are many Maureens. The Maureen placing yet another journal of daily musings on a shelf. The Maureen savoring precious hours with her children and, now, her grandchildren. The Maureen leading incredibly creative classes. The Maureen at the symphony in skirt and pearls. The Maureen laughing behind the curtain as she's garnering honors for her contributions to Charlotte's poetry and writing scene.
The Maureen staying in touch with an old friend.
Maureen came into my life some forty years ago. Her daughter was very small, her son not yet born. Life was hectic, demanding. She was part of a poetry group I joined. It was years before WordPlay. She began thinking of teaching. Everyone in the group was teaching a class here and there but Maureen began to talk of teaching on her own. Mostly we met and critiqued one another's poems. Maureen's poems were alive and clear and filled
with feeling. I remember when she made a commitment and started putting the word out. Maureen would teach. Today, those who've taken her classes would say she doesn't just teach, she inspires.
He searched across the state for antique brick
and paved his perfect roof with perfect slate.
His window panes are made of hand-blown glass
and every hinge and knob is solid brass.
He must have been the very first to have
a home controlled with central heat and air.
His carpeting was measured, hem to hem,
and rooms designed to fit without a seam.
In his desire to please his perfect spouse
he let her draft the blueprint of their house.
Mrs. H. sketched and erased–and erased–
until each room was in its perfect place.
He studied her plan, then took a second look.
“My dear, there is no kitchen. How will you cook?”
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 "tooty-falooty."
PROMPT: As Eeyore says in one of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, "we all have our little ways." Write about a real or fictional person whose ways
are "tooty-falooty."
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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