April 20th Meeting Notes

April 20, 2013 SEMO Writers’ Guild Meeting

Cape Girardeau Public Library

In lieu of President Jan’s late arrival, VP Marybeth called meeting to order.

The first item on the agenda was if there were any donations to be added to the Basket War basket for the MWG conference. She asked if there were any suggestions on names for the basket, but there were none. So, Jan, Marybeth, and Donna chose a name “Everything a Writer Always Wanted but was Afraid to Ask For.”

Next, speaker, Marilyn Hutchings, Reference Assistant at the Cape Girardeau Library, was introduced. She shared two handouts on ‘Found’ poetry. One from Annie Dillard and one that Marilyn wrote. She noted one of the problems with people reading poetry is that they think it has to have a meaning, and usually a hidden meaning. Sometimes, however, she pointed out that there is no hidden meaning.

One form of poetry she shared was ‘Found’ poetry, where an idea or image is taken from another’s writing and thereafter forming another poem. With this kind of poetry you don’t have to start from scratch. You can take someone else’s words and take bits and pieces and refashion and remake it into a poem. She stated that Found poetry is “a word collage in art!”

She suggested that writers interested in this form of poetry, to visit the “Found Poetry Review.” They publish twice a year. They have prompts on their website that you can take bits and pieces to create your own poem. They also have a blog.

Marilyn also shared some poets who took poetry to a different level: Some were David Lehman who wrote The Evening Sun, in which he wrote a stream-of-consciousness poem for each day of the year. Another was John Caddy, Morning Earth, who wrote poems in his journal about the first thing he experienced each morning. She also shared Christian Bok’s Eunoia, in which he wrote lipograms, and used each vowel for each chapter when writing his poems.

Next, in celebration of National Poetry month, several of our members and guests read poetry.

Sam Deusinger

Bill Hopkins

Bill Whitlock
Richard Flentge
Marybeth Niederkorn
Rick Lettau

Our next meeting in May will be Saturday, May 18. This is a week earlier than our regular meeting, due to Memorial Day weekend. 

 

--Submitted by Donna Essner