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FEB Meeting- flying haiku and shape-shifting moons

We had a solid turnout for our February meeting, including one newcomer, Brendan, and 4 stalwarts, Jesse, Sever, Patrick, and myself. We covered Sever's haiku series and had a good discussion on what haiku really are (see this WikiHow page for a 6 step primer) and if the 5-7-5 syllable count was the only way to tell a true haiku (it is not). In case you were looking for some good haiku examples, the library has plenty of examples by the greats, including Basho, here.

We also covered some of Patrick's poems, one of which included a pretty darn good version of a haiku, also exuding some nice figurative language. Patrick also wrote a poem about his experience at a Flying Wallendas' show which resulted in a disaster.

We also finished book 1 of Jesse's vampire trilogy. The plot is definitely thickening as sides are being taken and traitors are being sniffed out. Stay tuned as we turn our attention to book 2 in the coming months.

See you all next month as we cover a portion of a short story from Brendan, new haiku from Sever, a new chapter from Jesse, and poems from the rest of us (heck, i'll even throw some haiku in, as inspired- and sleepless- as i was last night). Cheers.

Feb 22, 2012
Andy
4th Annual Midwest Literary Walk - Chelsea

This unique literary event will be held in homey and artsy downtown Chelsea on Saturday, April 21st and will be a great time for all involved. Check out the website for the Midwest Literary Walk for the press release and more information. (It would be great to get something like this done here in Westland considering our proximity to both Detroit and Ann Arbor ...)

Feb 22, 2012
Andy
BookType: new avenue for self-publishing

One of my colleagues pointed out BookType to me, an open source software with which to make print or e-books. Some open source or Mac technological experience/knowledge necessary for assembly, but if you have an interest, check it out.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/booktype_lets_you_self-publish_books_for_kindle_or.php

Feb 18, 2012
Andy
Plymouth Open Mic

The Gathering of Writers is meeting tomorrow (TH) night in downtown Plymouth at the Coffee Bean. Check 'em out if you haven't been there before. There is an Open Mic starting at 7:30 p.m.  and then the featured reader, Mary Minock (details below), starts afterward. Enjoy!

Mary Minock is a long-term poet and academic writer, and her new book, The Way-Back Room, represents her first excursion into memoir.  She
grew up in the Southwest Detroit parish of Holy Redeemer, and is an
avid Detroit booster. From her strategic location near the Detroit
River, she travels to the suburbs to work, and across the river to
play—where she sings and plays tin whistle with a group of Celtic
musicians in Windsor, Ontario.

Mary has taught at the University of Michigan, New York Institute of
Technology, and Wayne State University. She currently teaches at Madonna
University, where she is a Professor of Language and Literature. She
has a collection of poetry entitled Love in the Upstairs Flat (Mellon, 1995), and has appeared in Driftwood Review, The MacGuffin, and Patterson Literary Review.
She is a recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Award from the Society for
the Study of Midwest Literature, and a Ginsberg Poetry Award.

Feb 15, 2012
Andy
Smolinski @ the Detroit Music Awards

Hey folks, our good friend, John Smolinski, is playing percussion in a new band fronted by Detroit-area folk singer (and poet), Joe Kidd, called Joe Kidd and The Sedition World Orchestra. They are applying to be considered for Detroit Music Awards in several categories, including outstanding folk artist, outstanding folk instrumentalist (John's category), outstanding world artist, and many, many more. The thing is they need our votes to be considered. So click on the link above to get to the band's website and, if you like what you hear, give 'em your vote at:

http://www.detroitmusicawards.net/register.html

(You must register before you vote)

p.s. John and Joe played at our most recent Open Mic and played several great songs. You can check it out online soon at: February Open Mic.

 

Feb 8, 2012
Andy
Poets needed

I received a phone call recently from a woman, Melanie Conor, who has attended our Poetry Book readings in the past. She is in charge of an upcoming (March 2nd) community event at a local church and is seeking poets to read their work. The program, she explained, is part of a tribute to the 70s in America, but the poetry that one reads at this event need not be relegated to 70s subject material. If you are interested, please contact Melanie via email at:mrc1rdh@aol.com

Feb 3, 2012
Andy
How to survive in the age of Amazon

Here's an interesting article from the Poetry Foundation about how small booksellers (independents who sell many of the smaller press poetry and fiction books) can keep their doors open while Amazon keeps lowering prices. A lot like the Walmart vs. Mom and Pop store debate we were having in the nineties. Take a look:

How to survive in the age of Amazon

Join us tonight for our Writers Workshop at 7 p.m., too.

Jan 24, 2012
Andy
Poetry at the Bean

Two readings posted in the same day- the stars are aligning for a veritable literary feast!

The Plymouth Coffee Bean is hosting their Gathering of Writers series again this month on Thur, January 19th, starting at 7:30 p.m. The featured is poet/author/teacher Jeff Kass. I particpated in peace-out/read-out event with Jeff years ago and he knocked the house out with his work. He is a slam poet originally, so he has that spoken word attitude/ability going for him. Word is that he has since gotten an MFA, published a few books of poems and essays, in between teaching HS and college creative writing classes, and being in charge of the Ann Arbor Book Festival. This should be a great reading to attend if you have the chance, and, of course, it is free (it is poetry, after all) and it is at a pretty friendly and down to earth coffee house. So, I hope you can attend.

Jan 14, 2012
Andy
New Reading Series (new to me)

Hey folks, I just wanted to let you know about a new-to-me reading and Open Mic series in Ann Arbor (thanks, Jennifer Burd, who lead a homelessness program at the library in late November). It's called the New Milennium Poetry Series and is held at Sweetwaters Cafe in Ann Arbor. The next one is on Monday, January 16th at Sweetwaters, starting 7 p.m. I linked to the New Milennium blog above, so check it out to see what kind of writing is coming through.

Jan 14, 2012
Andy
NOV Meeting

We had a lighter turn-out this November. With the meeting set-up closer to Thanksgiving, this wasn't a big surprise, but thank you to everyone who showed up and participated.

We covered chapter 17 from Jesse's 1st book. It is amazing how she keeps all these characters separate, unique and interesting. She even interspersed an epic battle scene, which brought to life many of the characters' motivations and intrinsic qualities. Nicely done!

Patrick was also there and had some poems for us to look at. Even though he hadn't signed up for it, Patrick is always at the ready with some new work, so we certainly appreciated it for its humor and quick-wittedness.

Sever also brought in a spare poem about a mysterious man at the bottom of a lake. He gave us some nice short lines with descriptive imagery that carried the piece along.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, December 20th. Since no one else did, Jesse and Pat have volunteered to have their work looked at. Email me if you haven't received copies.

Also, I wanted to mention the Gathering of Writers held monthly at the Coffee Bean in Plymouth. They have a featured writer and an Open Mic. December's gathering will be on December 15th, starting at 7:30 p.m. Zilka Joseph will be the featured reader. Email me if you'd like more info.

Happy holidays to all! Hope Santa fills your stocking with good cheer- and maybe a good book on writing or a netbook :) Cheers.

Dec 13, 2011
Andy

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