It's Poetry Friday

I heard Ted Kooser read for the first time last month. He recently completed his term as U.S. Poet Laureate – succeeded by Kay Ryan.

Kooser calls himself a Great Plains poet. His poems are intimately connected to place. His voice sounds like actor Gary Sinese. One of the most intriguing readings I heard Kooser give at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival was a series of dramatic monologues in verse. The poems were from his 1986 book, “The Blizzard Voices.”

I just completed the rough draft of a novel in verse in multiple voices, so my ears were perked. Kooser had me hooked with lines like this:

We had been playing Fox-and-Geese

in the schoolyard, during

the afternoon recess,

when the blizzard bore down

out of the northwest, roaring

and whistling, loud as a train.

Each poem is titled “A Man’s Voice” or “A Woman’s Voice.” Each describes one person’s experience of the Great Blizzard of 1888. The storm came so suddenly over the Plains States, children were trapped in their schools, men and women got lost walking home from their barns. No one had time to prepare, stock up on food or bring in fuel. The voices are stark and straightforward, but the poems are filled with detail:

On the night

that the big storm struck, we burned

the floorboards from the side-porch

and some of the furniture

because we couldn’t reach the barn

for fuel.

In the book’s introduction, Kooser remembers being a child and listening to family member who lived through the storm. Later, he read “In All its Fury” by W.H. O’Gara and used it as a resource for his poems. There’s no prettying up the effects of this storm. People lose animals, limbs, their lives.

If you’re teaching a Plains book like “Little House on the Prairie” or “Sarah, Plain and Tall,” think about sharing a few of Kooser’s blizzard poems with students. The voices will open a window onto the hardships & community of Plains life. There has been at least one professional performance of “Blizzard Voices” – another great option for your classroom.

I couldn’t find any poems from “The Blizzard Voices” online, but here is a series of reviews: http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/kooscrit.htm#blizzard

The small volume takes less than an hour to read. You won’t forget these voices.

The Poetry Friday Round-up is at Picture Book of the Day today. Stop by for more poetry. And remember to visit GottaWriteGirl for an interview about my work as a poet-in-the-schools.

Amok at GottaWriteGirl

When YA writer & blogger Susan Gray asked me to do an interview, I said, “Great!” Susan took my workshop at this summer's SCBWI conference in Westminster, MD. It was about using animal metaphors to build character. I had no idea that I would be following one of my authorial heroes, Katherine Paterson (you know, “Bridge to Terabithia”), into the hot seat at Susan's blog. Please visit GottaWriteGirl, especially if you're an aspiring author.

Susan’s doing a great job using technology to learn, connect with authors and editors, and show that she’s seriously committed to the writing path. What a savvy lady. Using a blog platform to snag an interview with Katherine Paterson? I’m totally inspired!

Amok in Atonement

Out yesterday with a migraine. Taking it easy today on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Which got me thinking about Ian McEwan’s novel “Atonement.” In Part One, the Tallis’s mother is a migraine sufferer. The detailed description of her heightened senses, her guilt over being incapacitated, rang horribly familiar. I couldn’t get through “Atonement.” Stopped on page 143. It’s rare for me to put a book down, but I could only take so much of bored rich Brits under an emotional microscope. Pages and pages of, “It’s so hot, whatever shall I tell Cook to make for dinner?” More pages and pages of Cecelia Tallis agonizing over which gown to wear. Pass me the Jane Austen. At least she viewed people like this with a grain of salty sarcasm. The migraine wasn’t the only thing that caught my interest, though. The novel has a terrific sex scene – brutal, honest, romantic because of its lack of romantic clichés. Which is why I was surprised to see “Atonement” on Teenreads.com’s Ultimate Teen Reading List. (Terrific resource, BTW, for YA authors.) This is language and description appropriate only for upper teens (we’re talking legal adult age), but the list doesn’t differentiate between middle schoolers and voting adults. Is it possible that “Atonement” is on the list because of Keira Knightley’s popularity with teens? She starred as Cecelia in the movie version (I haven’t seen it) and appears on the cover of some editions. The book was not marketed for a teen audience. The event that transforms the characters in “Atonement” – the turning point that makes these characters interesting, maybe even deserving of microscopic treatment – happens mid-way through the novel, about page 175 in my paperback. Beginning novelists are often told, "Start with chapter two." Well. I peeked ahead. Part Two of the book looks like less of a slog. The characters really are transformed by that major turning point on page 175. There are shades of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” in the war scenes. Lots to like, but I hit a roadblock. A more readable book, Aidan Chambers “Postcards from No Man’s Land.” This Printz Award winner has many of the same themes as “Atonement”: war, the power of secrets, first discovery of love. Highly recommended. For older kids, read it as a companion to “The Diary of Anne Frank,” which plays an important role in the novel. There's an article about "Postcards from No Man's Land" here: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25339102_ITM Have you read “Atonement” or seen the movie? Tell us what you thought.

Amok in Revisions

Finished the rough draft of my middle grade novel in verse today! Thirty fifth graders. Thirty voices. Thirty poetic stories to tell. More on the novel in verse form later. (I need to go lie down and eat some chocolate for a while before I think about revisions. I need to walk the dog. I need to fight the urge to start working on revisions right now.) In the meantime, on my reading and re-reading list are these novels in verse: Love That Dog, Sharon Creech The Trial (and anything else by), Jen Bryant Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?, Mel Glenn God Went to Beauty School, Cynthia Rylant Good Masters, Sweet Ladies, Laura Amy Schlitz At the Dodge Festival, Borders was selling only one YA author who does novels in verse, Ellen Hopkins. When I talked with agent Stephen Barbara at the Westminster, MD SCBWI about novels in verse for kids, he mentioned Hopkins. I haven't read any of her books. Have you? Let me know what you thought.

Writing Exercise: Show 'N Tell

Recommended for High School and up Poetry & Non-fiction/Memoir

I took a wonderful class with Baltimore poet Kendra Kopelke a few years ago. One exercise she gave us – write down 50 early memories. You might use Michael Z Murphy’s “Show 'N Tell Disaster” to jog your memory or for inspiration. The first 10-20 items, easy! The next 10-20, more thought required. By the last 10, you’re reaching. That’s a good thing. (I've heard some writers extend the exercise to 100 memories.) You’ve done the show part. Put the list of 50 memories away for a few days. Then read it again. What’s on the list that makes you say, “Why the heck do I remember that?” Then tell us why.

Here's my response to the prompt:

Mountain, Log, Salt and Stone The mountain is taller than I, halfway to the ceiling of our new living room. This is how carpets are delivered, piled in long, round rolls. Put a penny in your mouth and you’ll smell them: acrid and heavy and new, sour and exciting. With my brother I skate over the wood floor in socks, try to crash the mountain of carpets. Climb it and we are king and queen of a log pile. We cannot fell or budge them, though their sandy undersides mark geometrics on our knees. These logs have no rot, no rings to mark the fire or flood. The disasters are all ahead of us. When Dad is away we eat fast food, French fries at the new stone hearth. In two years our brother – the child my mother is carrying – will bang his chin on this stone and nearly sever his tongue with his teeth. There will be blood on the rug, the salty taste of it in the air. But tonight the scent of salt and oil is good. Furniture is scant. We gather on the floor around the fire. The young painter stands by the window. He has stopped rolling the walls and joined us for dinner. My mother is somewhere in the room. The painter watches her. He has dark hair and the youthful, slender form my father has outgrown. I watch the way his mouth moves when he looks away from my mother. The muscles of his back are taut with longing. Less than ten years in this country, her accent still fits like an egg in her mouth. He is not the first to mistake her round, elegant vowels for virtue. I want her to take offense, to fire him. But she is as kind and inattentive to him as she is to anyone. Angry for her sake, I begin to love my mother with a viciousness the painter can’t know. I pull her to sit with us by the fire, meals spread on our knees, and let the warm salt dissolve on her tongue, until it burns there like a pungent kiss. Laura Shovan

“Mountain, Log, Salt and Stone” appeared in the Jewish Women’s Literary Annual, 2004, Volume 6. You can also find the poem in the new Maryland Writers Association Anthology, "New Lines from the Old Line State."

Amok Behind the Scenes at the Dodge Festival II

It's the thrilling conclusion of my interview with Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival Assistant, Michael Z Murphy.

AA: Tell us about some of the poets you’ve met. I’m interested in authors whose personalities “fit” what we see in their poetry – either its tone or subject matter. Maybe people who don’t fit their poetic personas would be more interesting. You decide! MZM: Meeting poets after you know their work is always intriguing because you never know what you are going to get. Mark Doty (pictured right at a 2008 Dodge Festival panel) exudes the intelligence and humanity of his work, but his surprise is a drollness I do not see in his work. Edward Hirsch is surprisingly hysterical. He totally caught me off guard. Gerald Stern [AA: one of my favorites] still has the energy of a 20-year-old.

Lucille Clifton (pictured left) [AA: a Howard County, MD local and another fave], the only poet to attend every single Festival, is a total charmer. After meeting her, I was better able to see the sly humor in her work. All of these poets relate to the high schoolers as though they were old buddies. AA: The Dodge Poetry Festival has been compared to a rock concert or music festival. What is it about Dodge that invites the comparison? MZM: The beautiful outdoor setting is certainly one contributing factor. And there is music throughout the festival which comes as a surprise to many people.

A concert is a focused event because attendees are, for the most part, fans of the musicians. It is no different for poetry. Those who avoid it, and suffer for the loss, don’t attend. Those who love the stuff, come to hear the stuff, and they know that every other person they pass on the winding trails to various performance spaces also loves the stuff. It does a body good. In addition to being a Festival Assistant for Dodge and a communications professor at New Jersey's Union County College, Michael is a wonderful poet. He’s sharing a recent narrative poem about a childhood experience. The title says it all…but look for Michael’s use of detail to anchor us in elementary school. SHOW ‘N TELL DISASTER By Michael Z Murphy My hands held the smell of death One shouldn’t do what one shouldn’t do They were robin’s eggs in the nest Prettier and smaller than the pictures The color as delightful as Lady’s Collar and leash—robin’s egg blue Patent leather with rhinestones Not so many though as to be tasteless I held one up to the light Still it was opaque As I turned it between Thumb and forefinger A sickening sounds and goo This death burned me I replaced the disaster I returned to my seat I do not like the smell of death No amount of finger rubbing on creased School pants could rub out death’s smell Enough so my chest would not seem to crack I could not hear about borrowing From the tens column--the merry semicolon Never existed—Johnny Tremaine moved on Without me—the boy with death on his fingers Cramping began at once Within the hour I leaned over And barfed cheerios and milk All over creation Children slide back Mr. Wilson said without missing a beat Young Man, to the boys’ room fast Fred, here is a pass—ask Mr. Byrd To please come here quickly I returned to class ashen and still Stinking of death so strongly That even Mr. Byrd’s pine mop water Could not overwhelm death’s perfume As he walked out Mr. Wilson asked What else happens on Friday I knew the answer: Friday is when I murder

Michael Z Murphy, thanks for visiting! I'll say goodbye with a virtual hug.

Amok Behind the Scenes at Dodge

It's an Author Amok/Dodge Festival exclusive!

Poet and educator Michael Z Murphy, Festival Assistant since 2000, is visiting for a couple of days. He's going to give us an insider's view of the Dodge Poetry Festival.

Michael was a longtime New Jersey inner-city school teacher. Now he's taken his many talents to the Garden State's Union County College. His hot-shot professor webpage is: http://faculty.ucc.edu/english-mmurphy/ Go, Michael!

AA: Michael, let’s begin with your history with the Dodge Foundation. You became involved with them as a teacher participating in the "Clearing the Spring/Tending the Fountain" poetry sessions for teachers. How did the Dodge Poetry Program affect your teaching? Your writing? MZM: I honestly don’t remember when my awareness of and connection to Dodge began, but I do remember the circumstances. I was in the office of the high school where I taught going through my mailbox when a colleague hand me one of her pieces of “junk mail” with the words, “You might be interested in this."

It was an invitation to enroll for a course called Clearing the Spring/Tending the Fountain. It was about poetry. It was for teachers. It was free. I signed up. About a month later I attended the first session with my first “real” poetry teacher Maria Mazziotti Gillan, and I was hooked. When the course ended 6 weeks later I stood up and invited anyone who was interested in continuing to do the same work at my home. From that class, a group called HillPoets was formed. We are still together, still reading, still critiquing. We have produced two group chapbooks of our work.

(Full disclosure, readers. I was one of the original HillPoets and in Gillan's class with Michael. Michael has remained a dear friend since my move to Maryland. The group reunites at the festival. Here are some of us -- we missed you, Jean! -- last week. Margaret Valentine on the left. Michael standing behind Mary Florio. Me on the right. Poets and educators all.)

MZM: Most noteworthy of my experience with Spring/Fountain is the miracle it wrought in my classes which were general English 9, 11 and subsequently 12. Instantly, I began using more metaphor and image in my lessons and so did the students. Their interest level rose; the disruption factor fell.

When it came to teaching any genre of writing and the appreciation of any genre of literature my toolbox of techniques overflowed with ideas that grew directly from that first course. I am now a professor of communication in the English Department of Union County College where my increased facility with language is a major help in showing students who to impress others with words. I have taken Spring/Fountain courses whenever my schedule would permit. The quality of my own writing has continued to grow and diversify. I am able to set new writing goals and reach them. The exposure to poets of international acclaim [through the Dodge Poetry Program] has sustained my energy and now serves as the major underpinning of my work in the college classroom and as a writer. AA: I missed Student Day this year. It’s one of my favorite days of the Festival. Can you describe what the energy is like when the main stage audience is several thousand high school students? How do the headline poets respond to having kids in their audience?

MZM: On Student Day the buzz in Waterloo Village is palpable. Even the trees seem more alert. The main tent is packed throughout the day as are the other event tents and the open readings that occur simultaneously.

I have greeted students from across the nation—the most distant was from Alaska. They had saved for a year to make the journey. The headline poets emphatically state how honored and thrilled they are to see such an intense interest among teens.

Just a few months before she died, Gwendolyn Brooks read on Student Day. One of my responsibilities and thrills that day was to escort her back stage and make sure she safely got to the stage. She was very tiny and frail and tentative in her steps. She was introduced and magic occurred. On a gorgeous fall day 3000 students fell silent.

Ms. Brooks seemed to grow until she was a tower of strength. Her voice was as deep and strong as it ever was. She regaled them with fascinating stories and read her own poetry. What amazed me is that of 3000 students that day I don’t think there was one who realized they and she were not of the same generation.

After the reading Ms. Brooks was in the signing tent to autograph books. Although the day was warm and the line seemed to be miles long she would not leave until the last student was satisfied. Eventually, she did accept a chair. It was an incredible experience.

AA: You work with teen poets, helping them prepare for the New Jersey High School Poetry Contest Winners Reading. What do you think it’s like for them, coming to this festival where they find peers who care about language/writing as intensely as they do?

MZM: There are 20 winners each year, so that makes 40 for each Festival. Although many have gone off to college they do their darnedest to get to the Festival. It means taking off from college classes in the first month, travelling in various way for various distances. They do it because it is such an honor and such an adrenaline rush for them. They are language lovers who value being in the company of their ilk.

AA: What’s your best “behind the scenes” story?

The first year I didn’t realize that high school and college students had timing issues. I trusted that they knew what three minutes was. Well, once on stage of the main tent, one after the other the students went over time. One young man gave a two-minute intro to a two-minute poem. The poetry was good but the back up into the next event was not.

A few years ago one of the winning poets was autistic marked by extreme communication difficulties. He could email brilliantly and his writing was WOW. His mother and I agreed that in his place I would share two of his poems. More significantly they both agreed that when I introduced his work I was to mention that he was autistic. We all hoped to bust the myth that autism equals retardation. He and his mother sat near the stage for the program and I finally met them after the reading. He carried an electronic device on which he typed a beautiful thank you.

Are you a teacher in New Jersey? Do you love poetry? Lucky you! Find out more about the Dodge Poetry Program and the Spring/Fountain workshops for teachers, online.

See you tomorrow for the rest of the interview and an original poem from Michael.