'Searching for Order'

 "For me, poetry is always a search for order.'' – Elizabeth Jennings

 

British poet Jennings, born in July of 1926, won many awards for her “orderly” poems, which as it often turns out were anything but.  She won acclaim for her lyric style including the prestigious Somerset Maugham Award for her second book of poetry A Way of Looking, and the W.H. Smith Literary Award for her 1987 Collected Works - both enjoyable and thoughtful reads. 

  

For Saturday’s Poem, here is Jennings’ 

   

In A Garden

When the gardener has gone, this garden

Looks wistful and seems waiting an event.

It is so spruce, a metaphor of Eden

And even more so since the gardener went,

 

Quietly godlike, but of course, he had

Not made me promise anything and I

Had no one tempting me to make the bad

Choice.
  Yet I still felt lost and wonder why?

Even the beech tree from next door which shares

Its shadow with me, seemed a kind of threat.

Everything was too neat, and someone cares 

In the wrong way.
  I need not have stood long

Mocked by the smell of a mown lawn, and yet

I did.

  Sickness for Eden was so strong.

 

 

 

 

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A Writer's Moment: 'Write Whatever You Imagine'

A Writer's Moment: 'Write Whatever You Imagine':   “The one thing emphasized in any creative writing course is 'write what you know,' and that automatically drives a wooden stake t...

'Write Whatever You Imagine'

 

“The one thing emphasized in any creative writing course is 'write what you know,' and that automatically drives a wooden stake through the heart of imagination. If they really understood the mysterious process of creating fiction, they would say, 'You can write about anything you can imagine.'” – Tom Robbins

Born on this day in 1932, Robbins grew up (as he puts it) “as a hillbilly” in the mountains of North Carolina, the grandson of two Baptist preachers who he said were “mightily influential” in his development as a storyteller.

In addition to Even Cowgirls Get The Blues (both a bestseller and a highly popular movie) Robbins is the author of 8 novels, numerous short stories, many essays and several screenplays.  In 2000, Robbins was named one of the 100 Best Writers  

 of the 20th Century by Writer's Digest magazine.   In 2012, Robbins received the Literary Lifetime Achievement Award from the Library of Virginia.   

Even at age 90 Robbins maintains a regular writing schedule.  “Sometimes my muse sees fit to join me there (in his 'writing space') and sometimes she doesn't, but she always knows where I'll be. She doesn't need to go hunting in the taverns or on the beach or drag the boulevard looking for me.” 

 

 

 

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A Writer's Moment: 'Be Imaginative . . . And Read'

A Writer's Moment: 'Be Imaginative . . . And Read':   “I was encouraged to  be imaginative and re ad, and it was a great childhood for a budding writer because I had the time and the freedom ...

'Be Imaginative . . . And Read'

 

“I was encouraged to be imaginative and read, and it was a great childhood for a budding writer because I had the time and the freedom to go into a world of my own.” –  Sarah Waters

Born on this day in 1966, Waters grew up in Wales and said that while she did read, read, read and eventually become a writer, it wasn’t first on her list of aspirations. “For a long time,” she said, “I wanted to be an archaeologist.” 

She said that she thought she was headed for university at a fairly early age. “I really enjoyed learning. I remember my mother telling me that I might one day go to university and write a thesis, and explaining what a thesis was; and it seemed a very exciting prospect. I was clearly a bit of a nerd.”             

While she enjoys writing historical fiction, she also likes to shock her readers from time-to-time with some rather graphic details, “Keeping them on their toes, so to speak.”  For a great example her work, check out The Paying Guests, not only a terrific murder mystery but a detailed study of life in London right after World War I.

“I love research,” Waters said.   “Sometimes I think writing novels is just an excuse to allow myself this leisurely time of getting to know a period and reading its books and watching its films. I see it as a real treat.”

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A Writer's Moment: 'Make yourself available'

A Writer's Moment: 'Make yourself available':   I remember in grammar school the teacher asked if anyone had any hobbies. I was the only one with any hobbies and I had every hobby ther...

'Make yourself available'

 

I remember in grammar school the teacher asked if anyone had any hobbies. I was the only one with any hobbies and I had every hobby there was... name anything, no matter how esoteric. I could have given everyone a hobby and still had 40 or 50 to take home.

 – Cormac McCarthy

 Born this date in 1933, McCarthy gravitated to writing early, making use of his knowledge of so many things.  In addition to many short stories, he has written a dozen novels spanning everything from the Southern Gothic to Western to Post-Apocalyptic genres.  He’s won awards in each, including a Pulitzer Prize for The Road, a book that also won him the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction.

Many of his books have been made into movies including No Country for Old Men.   His All the Pretty Horses won both a National Book Award and a National Book Critics Circle Award before being made into a terrific movie.  The Road and Child of God also have been adapted for films.

 

 Cormac McCarthy

One of McCarthy’s writing traits is his non-use of computers.  He’s on his second Olivetti typewriter.  His first, bought for $50 in 1963, was auctioned for over $250,000 in 2009 after he felt it needed more maintenance than he could properly administer (his “cleaning” technique was to blow the dust out with a service station air hose).   He donated the money to charity. 

He got his second Olivetti in 2009 for $11 and went right to work since he almost always has several things underway.  “Even if what you're working on doesn't go anywhere,” he said,  “it will help you with the next thing you're doing.  Make yourself available for something to happen. Give it a shot.”

 

 

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