Poetry Sharing and Critique

Local poet Barbara Garro sent this in about a great resource for poets who want to share their work and get feedback from their peers.

Attention all Poets who want 45 minutes of sharing and critique in a professional setting!

Saratoga Springs Poet, Barbara Garro, offers a monthly, Third Wednesday morning from 9 a.m. to Noon, Saratoga Poetry Focus Group for a maximum of four poets. The Group meets at Garro's studio at 205 Regent Street, Saratoga Springs, and attendees must call 518-587-9999 for their reservation. Poets are asked to bring 4 copies of each poem for critique and offer critique to other attendees.

Directions:  Those coming from the South, get off the Adirondack Northway at Exit 13N and proceed into Saratoga. When you see Saratoga's major intersection (Adirondack Trust, Post Office, City Hall), turn East onto Lake Avenue and follow Lake past the Fire House and make a Right onto Regent Street where the Lake Avenue School is located. 205 Regent is on the right in the block between Lake and Caroline. Make sure you park on the correct side of the street.

Those coming from the North, get off the Adirondack Northway at Exit 15 and follow the above directions.

HVWG Items of Interest

Our friends at the Hudson Valley Writers Guild sent along the following announcements. For more information on these and other projects from the Guild, check out their website at www.hvwg.org.

Annual Meeting of the HVWG
Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, 6:00-8:00, Colonie Town Library.  Call for all Board Members to be there to introduce yourself to our membership.  Please bring non-members who might be interested in joining, as well.   (Directions: Travel north up Wolf Road until the last light at Albany-Shaker Road, turn right, then look for library driveway on your left.)

Community of Writers - Schenectady
Mark your calendars for Sunday, November 18, 2007.   There will be an excellent program held at the Schenectady County Public Library from 2:00-4:00 pm.   Panel members include: Karen Guzzardi-James, Peter Heinegg, David Kaczynski, Ron Pavoldi, Bill Poppino, Kelly de la Rocha, Rosalyn R. Sollecito, and Jennifer Wells.   Miki Conn will moderate.   There will be a book signing from 1:30-2:00 and from 4:00-5:00.

The Schenectady County Public Library is at 99 Clinton Street.  Contact Karen Bradley at 388 4533 with any questions you may have.  Web site: www.scpl.org.  The meeting will be in the McChesney Room.   This program is sponsored by the Schenectady County Public Library, the HVWG, Hamilton Hill Arts Center and Electric City Poetry Productions with support from the Friends of Schenectady County Public Library.

Member Announcements: Nancy Klepsch, Mary McCarthy
Nancy Klepsch will be offering a limited number of poetry tee-shirts at the following locations starting this fall and holiday season:  Allblues, 199 Fourth Street, Troy, NY and The Shop at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, River Street, Troy, NY.  She is also offering soup bowls with her poem "Eat" written on it at DEPARTURES, Albany International Airport.   The tee-shirt was inspired by her poetry installation called "about this building," which was funded by an Arts Grant from the Arts Center of the Capital Region through the New York State Council on the Arts.  Twelve 2' X 3' vinyl posters with her poem "about this building" printed on them were mounted on the facade of a building on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Jay Street in Troy's North Central neighborhood, where she rehabilitated her first home about 14 years ago.  "I realized this building was here before I was born, and it will be here after I am gone. I wanted to honor Troy's architecture, and I was wondering if anybody felt the way I do. I made this tee-shirt for folks who feel like me about their homes."      The tee-shirts come in sizes small to 3XL, are long sleeve, 100% cotton and white in color.
The soup bowls were inspired by her downstate upbringing featuring her poem called "Eat."  If you are from or visit the Queens, NY area, you will be familiar with such references as The Lemon Ice King, a Queens, NY institution, which makes homemade Italian ices from fresh fruit, in this poem. The ceramic bowls are white in color and feature hand lettering in black. 

Mary McCarthy has an essay on her work for insurance reforms in the book Voices of Breast Cancer, just released by LaChance publishing.   To order a copy of this anthology, or to find out about future readings, contact Mary at mamc@nycap.rr.com or 518-465-6706.

Area Announcements: Writing Group in Scotia, Food Writing Opportunity
1.  We have a member who lives in Scotia who is looking for a peer writing group.  She writes primarily short fiction.  If you know of a group or are willing to form one, please contact her at woodswoman2003@aol.com .

2.  Michelle Bowan writes:  I am the publisher & editor of "Edible Upstate" magazine which will be launching in the upstate NY region in Spring 2008.  As proud member of Edible Communities, our mission is to transform the way our community shops for, cooks, eats, and relates to the food that is grown and produced in our area. We value local, seasonal, authentic foods and culinary traditions, and we strive to put a face on every farmer, chef and food artisan as we tell their stories and champion their efforts toward a more sustainable and safe food system.

I am looking for local/regional writers to contribute to our quarterly publication.  If you have members that are interested in writing about food and agriculture, please pass on my contact information: Michelle Bowen at Edible Upstate by phone 518.281.2918 or email michelle@edibleupstate.com

National Novel Writing Month Starts Today

Today begins the annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  NaNoWriMo "is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."  Last year almost 80,000 writers took part in this unique approach to novel writing where quality is not what you are looking for, but rather quantity.

Even if you are not taking part in NaNoWriMo, we have come across a few websites that can help any writer hone their craft.

30+ Tools for the Amateur Writer is a great list of tools for writers including dictionaries, online word processors, grammar tips, and plotting and writing tips.

7 Can't Miss Ways to Kick-Start The Writing Habit is a list of tips, particularly for blogging, but can be used for all writing styles, to get writers into the habit of writing, especially on a regular basis.

Quick Story Idea Generator is a neat little tool that will generate, as the title suggests, story ideas.  Here is an example of what you can get:

The theme of this story: metaphorical relationship.
The main characters: humble lawman and awkward smuggler.
The major event of the story: apocalyptic event.

There are many more tools and tips out there for writers on the Internet these are just a few to get the ink flowing.  

Poetry Exploration Group

Deepening Our Connections Through Poetry is a new workshop series that will be taking place on Tuesday evenings from October 23 - November 20, 5:30-7:00 p.m. in Saratoga Springs led by Susan Jefts, MS and published poet.

A group for exploring, through poetry, the depth and beauty of autumn, both in the external landscape and our own internal landscapes. What do we keep returning to? What is essential in our lives? We will explore the words, rhythms and images of a new poem each week, accompanied by music, and delve into these and other questions. Appropriate for both new and experienced writers, and for poets and prose writers alike. There will be a chance to write each week.

The cost for this workshop series is $20 for each session.  Call 232-6776 to register or for questions. Also, be sure to check out www.saratogapoetryroom.com for more comments about previous workshops and other information.

How Not to Write Poetry

I came across this blog post this morning with some tips for beginning poets and how to not jump in the art.  I personally like tip number six:

"When a magazine rejects your submission, screw it. And screw the editor, too. They're out to get you, jealous freaks. Send them a piece of your mind, find other magazines, and submit to them only. Magazine editors are, after all, failed writers. They don't want to see anyone succeed where they didn't. Watch out for them."

A pretty humorous look at how to "make it" in the poetry business. 

Click here to read the article.