Can poetry change the world? Just ask Andrei Voznesensky, a Russian rock-star poet who sold out stadiums for his poetry readings in the 1960s. Yes. Stadiums. Voznesensky said, “If you want to change the world’s spirit, I will suggest that only poetry can do this.” Poetry Is Play Poetry, for the most part, is playful,… Read more »
There are years I barely remember – what happened to all 365 days of grade four? The only thing I remember is Mrs Vanbuskirk getting so mad she yelled at me in front of the class. I remember her white coat with the red embroidered designs of polar bears. She had impossibly black hair and… Read more »
If you’ve been following my last two articles on scene analysis, you know how valuable I believe it is for writers to understand how to determine if a scene either advances the plot and/or develops the character(s). This is especially important if it is the opening chapter of a novel. Before I became a Certified… Read more »
It’s probably fair to say that the number of us actually living our 2020 plan is vanishingly small. It was to have been my year of geographical expansion – a self-organized book tour to signings and festivals around the country. What’s happened instead is a geographical contraction to the four walls of my house and… Read more »
One of the most important parts of a DIY MFA is putting together a reading list that represents the area of writing that you want to focus on. That’s the beauty of DIY MFA: you don’t have to read something that doesn’t resonate with you. I learned this concept from a professor in my MFA… Read more »
Some time ago, I came to a realization that made me go from having a visceral hatred of poetry to suddenly rediscovering its beauty. The realization was this: It’s not that I dislike all poetry, I just dislike bad poetry. Let me backtrack a little bit. It’s 1993 and I’m in ninth grade biology class… Read more »
