July Meeting

We had a full group for our latest Poetry Group meeting: Patrick, Diana (plus one friend), Cheryl, Julie, Don, and Rundell. We even had the Detroit Creative Writing Examiner, Erica Martin, attend and participate in group critiques (see Erica's article on our program in the previous blog post).

Not everybody brought poems but Julie and Patrick brought enough for everyone :) Julie has begun writing haiku with Cheryl's direction and produced a prodigious amount in the short time she has started writing them. She also brought in her own more philosophical work (brought on by an incident at work) as well as an updated version of her haunted house poem.

Cheryl was so excited by Julie's new work that she read a few of her new haiku inspired by Emily Dickinson and tomatoes as well another of her works. We spent some time talking about Dickinson's life, as Julie is also a big fan of her work.

We read two of Patrick's poems that he had submitted earlier in the month, but he surprised us with two new poems, one titled "handsome" and all about what hands do (or don't do). This 5 pager was engaging and full of witty wordplay (as Patrick's poems are wont to do). The second poem was a short ditty about a goat with a longer story behind the work.

The group even conjured up an exquisite corpse poem. Don came in toward the end of our session but was still able to contribute some linesl. Talk to Andy if you'd like to see a copy of the project.

The Poetry BBQ has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, August 4th from 6-8 p.m. We are thinking about holding it at the park we had it at last year or another close by (to hopefully avoid mosquitoes) . We are inviting our friendly Fiction Group attendees, too, so if someone breaks into a story, you'll know where they came from. If you're interested in attending, please give me (Andy) $5 as Patrick will be buying the goods and cooking them up for us again. If you have something you'd like to BBQ yourself, just bring it along. Any questions talk to me. We'll also be talking about the fall sessions and a few changes taking place for the Fiction and Poetry groups.

Interview with Detroit Creative Writing Examiner

Recently, I was interviewed by the Detroit Creative Writing Examiner, Erica Martin, regarding our Writing Programs here. She posted a brief article about our program at this address:

http://www.examiner.com/x-50963-Detroit-Creative-Writing-Examiner

If you're interested in reading the full interview/article, let me know and I will give you a copy at our next meeting. I will see about posting it on our website, too, in case it is easier for folks to look up that way.

June meeting

I neglected to post for our last meeting until nearly the time for our next meeting (next Wednesday, 7/7 from 7-8 p.m. Geez, 7's sure seem lucky there, maybe one of us will win the lottery). Sorry, blame it on music and movies and Summer Reading Program business on my part.

We had 6 members attend, including Patrick, Cheryl, Diana, Julie, and Don, as well as one new member whose name has been lost to a month of library (and 1 year old) activity. I apologize sincerely to above-namelessed poet, but will be sure to catch all names next week.

Patrick, being his usual prolific self, brought in a number of works for us to peruse (I say "peruse" b/c we often move speedily from one to the next). Don did not bring in any poems but recounted a lengthy evening at the Westland July 4th fairgrounds with his nephew. Diana, as I recall, did not bring in any new works, but offered her opinion on many subjects from police/medical neglect to sheer wonder. Julie brought in new works- her natural poems offer much equanimity.

Looking forward to seeing everyone next week!