The WordPlay Word-zine
Volume VIII, Issue 13
April 1, 2019
Dear ,
I had such a wonderful time at the Upcountry Literary Festival in the sweet small town of Union, South Carolina the weekend before last. Here's a photo of me and the fabulous Bobbie Ann Mason, who gave a wonderful reading from her recently published Patchwork: A Bobbie Ann Mason Reader, published by the University Press of Kentucky, with
an introduction by George Saunders.
From our conversations, and her reading—and, even more, from our ride together in my red convertible back to the hotel to see if her rental car would start—I'm absolutely sure that Bobbie Ann has learned how to trust her own heart.
I met a number of other fine writers as well, including Dana Wildsmith, whom I have been hearing about for years, because we both teach at the John Campbell Folk School and have a
number of writing friends in common. It turns out we have several other important things in common: we both lost our mothers to Lewy Body Dementia, we've both found a rich writing vein in our relationship with our mothers, we both love to sing, and we both believe in the value of trusting our own hearts. (I think you are going to love this week's featured writing, Dana's poem "One Light," from which I pulled the above subject line. One Light is also the title of
Dana's new book.)
I didn't think to get a picture of myself with Dana, but the great news is that I have a chance to do that 4 p.m. this Saturday, April 6th, at one of my favorite bookstores, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina—a wonderful town in its own right.
After hearing Dana read from One Light, I can't wait to hear her again. Her poems are full to the brim with what I call "the four elements of human being": body, heart, mind, and spirit, and also with music. You are warmly invited to come to what I know will be a special event. The details are here.
Here's a portion of publisher Texas Review Press's description of One Light:
The poems of One Light comprise a mother/daughter story of love and determination told in two parts, from two epochs in their lives. . . .
The two voices are presented as equals: one reality vs. another.
In what might otherwise become a depressing collection, the poems, instead, lift us from despair to hope. A fourteen-year-old girl survives disfiguring burns. A nonagenarian drifts from one world to another accompanied by music and cats and a beloved child. In both halves, a fire rages and then burns down, to leave a new landscape.
In a society where more and more adults are facing the care of their parents, these poems can serve as a touchstone of understanding and hope. There is joy here, the joy of triumph, even when it is the triumph of finding a better exit from a known world.
Fred Chappell, Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1997–2002 and a writer beloved by many, said of One Light, "Here are some of the strongest poems I have ever read. I am grateful for this truest of books."
I love that word truest. Notice that it's only one letter off from the word trust. A happy accident, perhaps, but also note the root of the word true, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary:
Old English triewe (West Saxon), treowe (Mercian) "faithful, trustworthy, honest,
steady in adhering to promises, friends, etc.," from Proto-Germanic *treuwaz "having or characterized by good faith" (source also of Old Frisian triuwi, Dutch getrouw, Old High German gatriuwu, German treu, Old Norse tryggr, Danish tryg, Gothic triggws "faithful, trusty"), from PIE *drew-o-, a suffixed form of the root *deru- "be
firm, solid, steadfast."
This is perhaps the secret to learning to trust our hearts: we must first be willing to be true to ourselves as we really are.
Before I send you on down to read Dana's "One Light," as well as the announcements along the way, I want to give you the opportunity to share a bit of the flavor of our time together at the Upcountry Literary Festival through reading Dana's warm and humorous post about it, dated March 25, 2019, on her blog, http://www.danawildsmith.com/blog.
If you're local, I'd so enjoy seeing you this Saturday at 4 p.m. at Main Street Books in Davidson. And, regardless, I trust that you will be true to yourself and trust your heart.
Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming Free Writing Events
Come to these events
at Central Piedmont Community College
that are a part of Sensoria Arts Festival
Join in to celebrate Judy Goldman, the 2019 winner of the Irene Blair Honeycutt Lifetime Achievement Award in Literary Arts. Reception in Tate Lobby at 6 followed at 7 by the Award Presentation and a reading by and conversation with Goldman. Presented in Partnership with Charlotte
Center for Literary Arts.
Details here. Hope to see you there!
Take advantage of a remarkable opportunity to hear one of our country's bravest and gifted poets, Carolyn Forché, the 2019 Irene Blair Honeycutt Distinguished Lecturer at CPCC's Sensoria Arts Festival at these two times:
Central Campus - Tate Hall
Tue. April 09 at 8PM
Wed. April 10 at 10:30AM
Details here. Hope to see you there!
Upcoming WordPlay
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. check back then.
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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: See date choices below, and please weigh in!
WHERE: Online, live and also available as a replay.
COST for Workshop and Materials: $67
TO REGISTER: Details will be sent soon
Class size limited to 12
Here are the options I'm considering. Can you please let us know by Wednesday, April 3rd which choices that would work for you? Once we hear back from you, we’ll tally up the replies and pick the date(s) that
work, hopefully, for everyone who expressed interest. Copy and paste your choices into an email sent to info@wordplaynow.com.
- Saturday April 27th, 1 – 4:30 p.m.
- Saturday May 4th, 1 – 4:30 p.m.
- Saturday May 20th, 1 – 4:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 23rd and 30th, 7 – 8:45 p.m.
- Wednesday, April 24th and May 1st, 7 – 8:45 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 30th and May 7th, 7 – 8:45 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 1st and 8th, 7 – 8:45 p.m.
- Tuesday, May 7th and 14th, 7 – 8:45 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 8th and 15th, 7 – 8:45 p.m.
- Tuesday, May 14th and 21st, 7 – 8:45 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 15th and 22nd, 7 – 8:45 p.m.
Thanks for letting us know that you’d like to participate, and we look so forward to hearing back from you by this coming Wednesday, April 3rd.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
Dana Wildsmith’s poetry and prose are literally grounded in her place in the natural world. The poems of One Light, Wildsmith’s newest book,
are set mostly on her family’s acreage in north Georgia during the time of her mother’s long dying from dementia. Wildsmith’s environmental memoir, Back to Abnormal, deals more specifically with living on an old farm within the ever-encroaching Atlanta region, and was Finalist for Georgia Author of the Year and also won Wildsmith a stint as Artist-in-Residence for Grand Canyon National Park. Her novel, Jumping, explores the changing demographics of the U.S. southern border.
Wildsmith has also worked as Artist-in-Residence for Devils Tower National Monument and Everglades National Park. She is a Hambidge Fellow and a Fellow of the South Carolina Academy of Poets.
A single light can lead you home. One light
is all you need to break the back of night
when darkness seems to weigh more than it has
on all the nights before, and nothing's as
it was. Bit by bit, the lighter shades
of night you used to trust have faded as
you stopped believing in relief. The dark
goes on forever, and begins right where you are.
But when your eyes can't guide your steps, you learn
to trust your heart instead. You rise and turn
toward where you need to go, and in the dark
you think you see a glimmer like a star
that wasn't there until you headed home
through darkness, trusting that a light would come.
From One Light (Texas Review Press, 2018).
Used with the author’s permission.
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 "trust."
PROMPT: Write about a moment when you, someone you know, or one of your characters trusted your/his/her own heart—or had an experience that brought the realization that it was time to.
A bonus of excavating your passions is being reminded of pleasures you had forgotten about. How long has it been since you listened to that song
you fell in love to when you were sixteen? Dig it out, dust it off, and give it a spin. And when did you last read A Wind in the Willows? Eat
watermelon on a summer lawn and see how far you could spit the seeds? Writing can provide a record of our joys; it can also point the way to a more
joy-filled life. (adapted from Spinning Words into Gold.)
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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