Poetry Workshop

I just got out of a poetry workshop with Naomi Shihab Nye. She had come to the library to do the yearly William Morris lecture for staff, but instead of lecturing us, she had activities and stories for us. Naomi is a poet and author who has been writing since she was 6 years old, and has won numerous awards. She is probably most known for her poems about her heritage because she is part Arab. I first heard her on NPR. She has the most wonderful voice. She has one of those voices that I could listen to for hours, but not drift oft to. I could listen to her and pay attention to. So you can see what I mean, take a listen to this.

Doesn't she have the best poetry voice?

Anyway, back to the workshop. Even though the workshop was geared towards activities for children and outreach to schools, I came away with many ideas for the Poetry Picante program, which is an open mic poetry program that I help run. I've got names of new poets to invite to read and group writing activities to try. Poetry Picante struggles. Or I think it struggles. I don't have many other library open mic programs to compare it to, but we get an average of 6 people attending each month. Some people tell me this is good. But I don't know. I think part of reason why I think it struggles is because I only have one regular. So I get all these people who show up once, and then never come back. We do better when I can say we have a specific poet coming, so if I can get some of these new poets to come, things should pick up.

As part of the workshop she had us do some writing. Just some short little pieces that came from some writing prompts she gave us. Here are mine:

You may not be who I think you are.
How can I tell, if you never come back
from Korea?

The kitten Max loves to chase gnats across
the carpet. Which is cute. He also love to
climb the drapes; which is not.

What's a cassette? asked the 5 year old boy,
who had never paid much attention to the old
machines at grandma's house.

She gave us some tips for responding to poems too. She says to ask questions like "How does it make you feel?" or "Does this bring anything to mind?" and to never ask "What does it mean?" There can be multiple meanings for any one thing. Asking what it means restricts it to one interpretation.

I also have many more books to add to my reading list. Its so easy to get enthusiastic about reading something when someone who adores the books give them to you. So onto my list go:

Today's Special Dish by Nina Lindsay
You Hear Me? poems and writings by teenage boys edited by Betsy Franco
Braided Creek: a conversation in poetry by Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser
Is This Forever, or What? poems and paintings from Texas selected by Naomi Shihab Nye
Going, Going by Naomi Shihab Nye

I'd like to pass on a recommendation for Going, Going to anyone who likes to discover independent restaurants and businesses. B-town crew, this means you.