months and months…
January 27, 2012
The year is young. In case your calendar is still looking a little underpopulated, here are a few “months” that will be coming up to tweak your writing muscles and your imagination. (Note: the links vary in their up-to-date-ness; if you have an interest or an opinion, leave a comment when you visit the sites. Many of the sites offer prompts during the actual month.)
JANUARY
National Travel Writing Month
FEBRUARY
National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo)
The Month of Letters Challenge
February Album Writing Month
MARCH
Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest accepts submissions
APRIL
National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo)
Script Frenzy
MAY
National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo)
JUNE
breathe…
JULY
relax…
AUGUST
August Poetry Postcard Fest
SEPTEMBER
National Sketch Writing Month
National Pony Writing Month
OCTOBER
National Day on Writing
Pegasus Books National Paragraph Writing Month
NOVEMBER
National Novel Writing Month
November PAD Chapbook Challenge
National Blog Posting Month
National Playwriting Month (NaPlWriMo)
DECEMBER
International Plot Writing Month
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2012 calendar
the shortest month…
January 26, 2012
February, which will be here in a couple of blinks, is, of course, the shortest month, even in its longer-than-usual 2012 version. A short month is the perfect time for short poems, and thus it is the ideal calendar spot for National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo).
But, wait. There’s more. If the short, cold days of February have you longing for something rich and personal, author Mary Robinette Kowal invites you to participate in The Month of Letters Challenge.
The idea is simple: each day the U.S. Postal Service operates during the month of February (that’s 24 if you deduct Sundays and President’s Day), mail a letter, a postcard, something through the U.S. mail, and reply to any letters you receive. There’s more info on the Month of Letters website and on the Month of Letters Facebook page.
…So how long has it been since you received a handwritten letter? Wouldn’t it be nice?…
a poetry walk revisited…
January 25, 2012
Back in November, we mentioned a poetry walk in New York, Jon Cotner’s Poem Forest. Now, the BMW Guggenheim Lab has posted an audiovisual tour of Poem Forest that includes commentary by Cotner, photos of the walk and a brief audio clip “that features Poem Forest participants reading their favorite lines.”
If January has you feeling nostalgic for autumn, take a look and stroll along.
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photo
poetry reading: February 9
January 24, 2012
Judith Roche will talk about poetry and read from her book, Myrrh: My Life as a Screamer, at a free presentation at the Bellingham Public Library on Thursday, February 9, 2012, 4:00pm. The following day from noon to 3:00pm, Judith Roche will conduct a writing workshop, Poetics of Place, at the Northwest Indian College.
Learn more about Judith Roche and her intriguing poetry in public places on her website.
mutable poetry…
January 23, 2012
Sometimes a poem seems to shimmer off the page as you read it. For Sebastian Lange, Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley took on a life of its own. Lange’s text-motion-video, flickermood, incorporates lines from Shelley’s poem along with other text and a jazz-funk sound track by Forss. flickermood has been around for a while…and it’s worth another look.
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image
on being a poet…
January 21, 2012
“The poet’s job is to find a name for everything.” Jane Kenyon
word play…
January 20, 2012
Artist Anna Garforth uses simple materials — paper, moss, dough — to create her own kind of visual poetry. Of Grow, shown above, she says, “Moss typography adorns the wall of a secret spot I found in London behind locked gates, a disused plot awaiting the arrival of new flats. I thought I’d sneak in before the small wilderness got bull dozed.” See other photos of Grow and other works on Anna Garforth’s website and be sure to have a look at Edible Poster. Poetry is where you find it…or where you create it!
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photo: Anna Garforth — Grow
celebrating Stafford…
January 19, 2012
Every January, on or about the birthday of William Stafford (January 17), the poet’s fans gather for readings to commemorate his life and work. (Please note: the William Stafford Tribute planned for January 17 at Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, which was cancelled due to snow, has been rescheduled for Sunday, January 22, 2012, at 2:00pm.)
An exceedingly prolific poet, Stafford (1914 – 1993) was born in Kansas, but settled in Oregon in his 30s and lived there for the rest of his life. His poetry and prose is published in more than 65 of his own books and in innumerable collections and journals. He served as the U.S. Poet Laureate and earned many impressive awards and honors.
Dennis Schmidling, of Friends of William Stafford, is urging the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Postal Service to “honor William Stafford’s life and work by issuing a commemorative stamp in 2014, the centennial year of his birth.” To learn more, view Schmidling’s letter here (PDF, Adobe Reader required). To endorse the idea of a William Stafford commemorative stamp, send a letter (by U.S. mail only!) to Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, c/o Stamp Development, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300, Washington, D.C. 20260-3501.
Meanwhile, there’s the Village Books reading on Sunday as well as others throughout the northwest and beyond.
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William Stafford photo
snow!
January 18, 2012
By Eric Carr, 1st grade
SNOW*
Snow and shovels all around
There is a pickle in my hound
And snow all around
And horses on the bound
Firing snowballs on the ground
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Click to see and hear Eric Carr reading his poem on YouTube.
*Copyright 2011 by Eric Carr. Placard design by Egress Studio.
poetry reading: February 12
January 17, 2012
Get a little sneak preview of Valentine’s Day at SpeakEasy 6, “Love Uncensored,” when close to 20 couples read poems about love and all its entanglements. Sunday, February 12, 2012 at The Amadeus Project, 1209 Cornwell Ave., Bellingham. 7:00-9:00pm. Admission is free, with donations to The Amadeus Project appreciated. Adults only, please!
