A Writer's Moment: 'A familiar daily struggle'

A Writer's Moment: 'A familiar daily struggle': “If someone is alone reading my poems, I hope it would be like reading someone's notebook. A record. Of a place, bea...

'A familiar daily struggle'

“If someone is alone reading my poems, I hope it would be like reading someone's notebook. A record. Of a place, beauty, difficulty. A familiar daily struggle.” – Fanny Howe

The poet, novelist, and short story writer Howe recently turned 81 (on Oct. 15^th).   Awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize - presented by the Poetry Foundation to a living U.S. poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition -

Howe is one of the most widely read American poets.                

Her poems "Everything's a Fake" and "Doubt” were selected for the anthology Great American Prose Poems: from Poe to the Present.   For Saturday’s Poem, here is Howe’s,

                                        Footsteps

                                        I have never arrived
                                        into a new life yet.

                                        Have you?

                                        Do you find the squeak
                                        of boots on snow

                                        excruciating?

                                        Have you heard people
                                        say, It wasn't me,

                                        when they accomplished
                                        a great feat?

                                        I have, often.
                                        But rarely. 

                                       
                                                •

     

                                            Possibility

                                            is one of the elements.

                                            It keeps things going.

                                            The ferry

                                            with its ratty engine

                                            and exactitude at chugging

                                            into blocks and chains.

                                            Returning as ever

                                            to mother’s house

                                            under a salty rain.

                                            Slave up, slave down.

 

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A Writer's Moment: The Train 'Rumbled' By

A Writer's Moment: The Train 'Rumbled' By:   A train rumbling by; the hoot of an owl to break the night’s stillness; a floorboard’s creak just when no one else is supposed to be aroun...

The Train 'Rumbled' By

 A train rumbling by; the hoot of an owl to break the night’s stillness; a floorboard’s creak just when no one else is supposed to be around.  As a child we had only an old upright radio (not unlike this 1939 Trutone) 

around which my brothers and I would gather to hear The Shadow, Dragnet, or The Lone Ranger.  Our only "view" was of the front of that radio as we sat cross-legged on the floor to listen.  But the worlds of crime, drama and the Old West came pouring out upon us – a wonderful mix of a writer’s words and great sound.

“Sound is so important to creative writing. Think of the sounds you hear that you include, and the similes you use to describe what things sound like. 'As she walked up the alley, her polyester workout pants sounded like windshield wipers swishing back and forth.' Cadence, onomatopoeia, the poetry of language are all so important. Learn all that you can about how to bring sound into your work.” – Barbara Demarco-Bennett

 

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A Writer's Moment: ‘A Long Journey of Discovery’

A Writer's Moment: ‘A Long Journey of Discovery’:   “I think it's a terrible thing to write and not enjoy it. It's a sad thing. But of course a lot of people do work because they nee...

‘A Long Journey of Discovery’

 “I think it's a terrible thing to write and not enjoy it. It's a sad thing. But of course a lot of people do work because they need to eat. And we all need to eat, but that's not the only reason to work. You couldn't have paid me not to write.” – Anne Perry

Born Juliet Marion Hulme on this date in 1938,  Perry – a native of England who now lives in the U.S. – is best known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk detective series’.   She took a circuitous route to her writing career, which followed time in prison.

 

At age 15, Hulme and her best friend Pauline Parker murdered Parker's mother in a convoluted plan to keep Parker from having to move to another country.  The events formed the basis for the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures with Kate Winslet playing the teenaged Hulme.

 

 At the time of the film's release, it was not generally known that mystery author "Anne Perry" was Juliet Hulme, whose identity was made public some months after the film's release. 

To date she has published over 60 novels and many short story collections. Her story "Heroes", which first appeared in the 1999 anthology Murder and Obsession, won the 2001 Edgar Award for Best Short Story.   In 2017, Perry moved to Hollywood in order to more effectively promote films based on her novels.

 “What do I believe? It has been a long journey of discovery,” Perry noted.  “There have been hesitations and errors along the way, and no doubt will be more, because I am still learning, both about myself and about life.”

 

 

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A Writer's Moment: Nature Is Both Muse And Inspiration

A Writer's Moment: Nature Is Both Muse And Inspiration: “The experience of nature is one of awe. One cannot help but marvel at the intricate design of a single leaf, or the roa...

Nature Is Both Muse And Inspiration

“The experience of nature is one of awe. One cannot help but marvel at the intricate design of a single leaf, or the roar of a great waterfall. Time spent in nature is time spent realizing that you don't know it all and that you never will.”  –Nature Poems

  

Roughlock Falls in the Black Hills

Nature is full of inspiration and can easily serve as a muse for writers.   In nature, we might find metaphors for our own human experiences that we never considered before.  Waterfalls and rivers are symbols of life and the passage of time; writing (and reading) about nature allows us space to reflect on life and how it mirrors the human experience.

  

As John Muir noted:  “When you tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world.”

 

 

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