Category: - Marianne Murphy Zarzana

Southwest Minnesota State University Visiting Writers Series - Save These Dates

1/27/2011

This semester at SMSU we're welcoming three outstanding writers to read from their new books during our Visiting Writers Series:

Thurs., March 3, 7 p.m., CH 201 - poet Christine Stewart-Nunez, Keeping Them Alive
Tues., March 15, 7 p.m., Whipple Gallery - poet Jim Reese, Ghost on Third
Wed., April 6, 7 p.m., CH 201 - poet and former award-winning editor of the Marshall
Independent Dana Yost, The Right Place (poems and essays)

Save these dates on your calendar. Tell everyone you know. And get ready for writing that delivers--more than you ever bargained for, just what you needed.

All readings are free and open to the public. After the readings, writers will be available for book signings.

What is the Soundtrack of Your Writing Life?

1/25/2011

Want to get in touch with your inner child to stir up the creative juices a bit? Try listening to Wonderground Radio on Minnesota Public Radio. Billed as "non-commercial radio for kids to listen to with their grown-ups," there's everything from classics--Louis Armstrong's "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," Pete Seeger's "On Top of Old Smoky," Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walking," and Sly & the Family Stone, "Everyday People"--to newer hits such as Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," Michael Franti & Spearhead's "Say Hey (I Love You)," Sufjan Stevens' "The Friendly Beasts," and OK Go's "White Knuckles."

When I write, I like either silence or instrumental music, no lyrics. But for some writing-related tasks--sorting, cleaning up desk clutter, filing--it's great to have music with good energy, music that jogs memories, loosens you up, takes you places. Check this out, and see what you think.

Poetry and Place

1/20/2011

The Poetry Foundation recently sent out a letter noting that "Ruth Lilly's historic gift made it possible to think of a dedicated building that would be a place for poetry in Chicago, and an addition to the national landscape for poetry." They included an architect's rendering of the new building that "will give to Chicago a place of airy lightness by day and a jewel box, lit from within, by night" (visit poetryfoundation.org/building to see a slide show). The website notes, "Like several other dedicated poetry spaces around the country, the Poetry Foundation building will be a physical manifestation of the nationwide resurgence of poetry in American culture."

The letter adds that "the building will also be a coming home for Poetry." Having perched in rented or donated space since the magazine's founding by Harriet Monroe in 1912, "Poetry will settle into the first ever home of its own just in time to celebrate its centenary." In expressing "the weight of feeling that this carries for us all," the Poetry Foundation Board chairman Don Marshall quoted a poem by Adrienne Rich:

Stone by stone I pile
this cairn of my intention
with the noon's weight on my back,
exposed and vulnerable
across the slanting fields
which I love but cannot save
from floods that are to come;
can only fasten down
with this work of my hands,
these painfully assembled
stones, in the shape of nothing
that has ever existed before.
A pile of stones: an assertion
that this piece of country matters
for large and simple reasons.
A mark of resistance, a sign.
-"A Mark of Resistance," from Poetry, August 1957

Chicago is one of my favorite cities. Having grown up in the suburbs, I loved going to the Art Institute, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Planetarium, and Grant Park for concerts such as the Chicago Blues Festival. This coming summer the doors will open to this new home for poetry, and I look forward to having one more reason to head back from Minnesota to Chicago for a visit.

Finding the 'right place'

1/16/2011

An article about Dana Yost's new book was published yesterday in the Marshall Independent--"Finding the 'right place.'"

The book, The Right Place, a combination of essays and poetry by the former editor and award-winning journalist of the Marshall Independent, "shows how life is never easy in the Midwest," according to Yost, but "there are people committed to the area." He writes eloquently about these people, and he exhorts "other residents--writers, local government leaders, business leaders, anyone with deep roots in the region--to keep thinking critically and passionately about its future."

In these beautifully wrought essays and poems, Yost writes about universals--death, war, faith, illness and grief--and how people deal with them in a specific place. Yost may have moved to Forest City, Iowa, but his heart clearly remains in southwest Minnesota.

Words That Shimmer

1/15/2011

The National Public Radio show "Krista Tippett on Being" broadcast a segment on Jan. 6, 2011 titled "Words That Shimmer" and posted these words on their website:

"Poetry is something many of us seem to be hungry for these days. We're hungry for fresh ways to tell hard truths and redemptive stories, for language that would elevate and embolden rather than demean and alienate. Elizabeth Alexander shares her sense of what poetry works in us — and in our children — and why it may become more relevant, not less so, in hard and complicated times."

Elizabeth Alexander is a poet and professor of African American Studies at Yale University. She composed and delivered her poem "Praise Song for the day" for the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Her most recent book is Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems, 1990-2010.

Alexander was delightful when she appeared on The Stephen Colbert Show the day after the inauguration and explained the difference between a metaphor and a lie.

On Speaking Terms

1/7/2011

Recently I started reading a new book of poems, On Speaking Terms, by Connie Wanek, one of my favorite poets. I like how Maxine Kumin describes Wanek's work: "Her carefully crafted poems have a delicious artlessness about them, even as they take us in and lift our neck hairs with the unexpected aptness of her metaphors."

Connie takes common objects--Scrabble, Monopoly, lipstick--and creates uncommon, fresh images. She lives in Duluth, and she explores the landscapes and severe winters of the upper Midwest along with signs of spring's return. In her poem "Ice Out," she writes, "The south wind discovers a loose thread / and winter begins to unravel. / The first back and blue butterfly / materializes. The second. / They find each other. / The snow fort is in ruins. / Stacks of ammunition / have melted into the grass."

If you haven't already read Connie Wanek's work, I encourage you to find her poems and books.

Poem of the Day on Poetry Daily: "Deer, December" by Richard Terrill

12/27/2010

Today's Poem of the Day on the online website, Poetry Daily, is "Deer, December" by Richard Terrill, one of my graduate professors at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I love the vivid nature images in this poem and the surprising truth of the last line. The poem is from his new book, Almost Dark, published by University of Tampa Press. Terrill gave a wonderful reading from his book in October at Marshall Festival 2010, a writing conference hosted by Southwest Minnesota State University.

Terrill's other books include Coming Late to Rachmaninoff (Winner, Minnesota Book Award for Poetry, 2003), Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz, and Saturday Night in Baoding: A China Memoir (Winner, Associated Writing Programs Award for Nonfiction). Terrill is a terrific writer and an outstanding teacher, and I've learned much from him in the classroom and from reading his work.

Relax

12/22/2010

Today a writer friend, Christine Stewart-Nunez, author of the poetry book Postcard on Parchment, gave me the poem "Relax" by Ellen Bass, published in the American Poetry Review in September/October. It can be read on Poetry Daily online (just click on the poem title). Do you find that some poems arrive at just the right time? This one made it onto the most prestigious location in our home--the fridge door.

Dana Yost's latest book, The Right Place

12/18/2010

Former Marshall Independent editor and award-winning journalism Dana Yost, who grew up in Minneota and lived in Cottonwood, has written a new book, The Right Place, available in Marshall, Minneota, Cottonwood, and online. The book focuses on people and places in southwest Minnesota. It is a combination of 12 essays and 10 new poems. The essays include new pieces on the late Minneota Mayor Paul Larson, the 30th anniversary of the Minnesota Machinery Museum in Hanley Falls, stories on local authors Bill Holm, Adrian Louis and Howard Mohr. Currently, The Right Place is available at MAFAC Arts Center, 109 N. 3rd ST. in Marshall, The Minneota Mascot, the Village Court in Cottonwood, and by emailing [email protected]. After Jan. 1, it will also be available online at www.ellispress.com. The book costs $12. If ordering by mail, there is s $5 shipping fee. The Right Place is published by Ellis Press of Granite Falls.

As soon as I finish grading papers for this semester, I'm looking forward to reading my copy of Dana's new book. I am a long-time fan of Dana's prose and poetry, and I am giving his book to many friends this Christmas.

Writing Your Next Chapter?

12/14/2010

In the public relations courses I teach at SMSU, I start each class by asking my students if they have any Shameless Plugs for upcoming events on campus. Today I have a Shameless Plug for Nancy Murphy Spicer, who operates Zoom Business and Life Coaching. If you take a brief survey on her web site, you can receive a free 30-minute life coaching sample session. Read her web site, see what her clients say, and think about where you want to go next with your writing, publishing, personal or professional life. As a life coach, Nancy understands the artist's path from firsthand experience as an artist. If you're ready to write your next chapter but need some coaching, you may be ready for Zoom.