I’ve published this post before, but I believe it’s worth an encore. I’m going to reprise it tonight at the Troy Poetry Mission open mic at O’Brien’s. Warning: it’s a bit gross. Norwegians have a word for the week between Christmas and New Year’s: romjula. The closest we have in English is the word Taint, meaning it… [Read More]
The Most Over-Hyped Time of the Year
Only four days till Christmas, and I’m immersed in the holiday spirit. But there have been past Christmases when I was mired in depression or feeling very “bah humbug” about the holidays. I’m well aware that this season conjures up a wide range of emotions in shades from joy to despair, and that December can… [Read More]
Twelves ways of looking at Christmas Consumption
In my last post, I described using Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” as a stylistic model for creating an original poem. In my Alchemy of Creative Writing workshop series at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, I challenged the participants to write a poem in this format using the holidays as… [Read More]
Eleven Ways of Looking at November
November can be the cruelest month, especially when the end of Daylight Savings Time plunges us suddenly into premature darkness. From then on, it’s a slippery downhill slope for many of us, straight through the holidays and into the New Year when we begin noticing the precious minutes of daylight that beat back the darkness… [Read More]
Sign up for my creative block-busting workshops and win a prize!
I’ll be facilitating two workshops at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy this November. There’s still time to register, and if you do, or if you get a friend to register, I’ve got a special prize for you. Read on to learn what you’ll win. But first, here are the workshop descriptions…. [Read More]
Patricia Stoltey’s long journey to publication
I’m delighted to welcome Patricia Stoltey as today’s guest blogger. Pat and I first met in 2009 on Dani Greer’s Blog-a-Day web site, and we reconnected recently on Facebook. Her story is a great illustration of my favorite maxim from the I Ching: Perseverance furthers. Four Things I’ve Learned About Writing Along the Way by… [Read More]