Archive for March, 2011
St. Louis Centennial Tribute to Tennessee Williams: There are benefits!
This is the 100th birthday year for Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911-February 25, 1983). His childhood in St. Louis shaped his writing career, so let’s celebrate! Lana Pepper directs and produces an hour-long tribute. Six actors perform scenes from: A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Glass Menagerie. WHEN? April [...]
Blog Duet: How do we connect to and nurture our creative path?
Selena Wolff is a recent Blogging Buddy. Her site is Solitary Words: Finding Spirit Through Writing. It’s exactly what it says! Selena contributed a guest post to Riehl Life on “Finding Your Voice.” From blog comments to emails to guest post to telephone conversation, gradually our connection grew stronger. Today we’re sharing our views on [...]
Peek-a-boo, I see you: One-way Skype video chatting
I call a friend for a Skype chat. He doesn’t have a camera on his home computer. He can see me. I can’t see him. Does it matter? Yup. Turns out it does. “You feel vulnerable,” my friend says. “There’s an imbalance of power.” Power? Hmmm… Okay, that’s part of it. I feel uncomfortable, exposed, [...]
Prose? Poetry? Who knows?
Prose? Poetry? Who knows? My collaborator Stephanie Farrow and I have discussed this topic endlessly. Where is the line between poetry and prose? Is a story poem just prose with line breaks? Does a poem have to be obscure to qualify as art? I’ve explored these questions and many others with participants at conferences for [...]
Alton Senior High School Poetry Grant: We can do it.
Awhile back I funded an annual program that provided monthly guest presenters to talk to students in the creative writing class at Alton Senior High School. There was a fine line-up, including a presentation on the Kwansaba form developed by the Eugene Redmond writing club. The St. Louis Poetry Society administered the grant. I dedicated [...]
Pop is…always right. Right?
At our weekly Sunday brunch we looked at nuts my niece and her children had gathered on our place. My great grandfather was a premier nut grower and grafted new varieties. I wondered if these nuts were Hickons (a cross between hickory and pecan). My niece said: “I think these are just pecans–pecans are, I [...]
Judging the Poetry Out Loud Regional Contest–how I got through it
Once again this year I judged a regional Poetry Outloud contest. It’s sponsored by The Poetry Foundation, State art agencies, and the National Endowment for the Arts. It’s now in its sixth year of national competition. Melissa Crockett Mustain, director of The Jacoby Art Center in Alton, organized the event. I love that the students [...]
Family Stories Our Way: In Poetry, Prose, and Music
My father and I have given several workshops on family stories. Last year we presented a workshop called “Family Stories in Poetry, Prose, and Music” at the Hayner Library in Alton, Illinois. With my father, these three always go together. I set up a structure for the workshop on how to write family stories. Pop [...]
Part 2: Life with the Written Word–Ernest Dempsey’s Story from Pakistan
Yesterday Riehlife readers were treated to Part 1 of Ernest Dempsey’s “Life with the Written Word.” When you read part one you’ll see Ernest’ bio and the story of our four year internet friendship since 2007. –JGR ______________________ PART 2: Life with the Written Word – Ernest Dempsey’s Story from Pakistan JGR: Your home is [...]
Life with the Written Word: Ernest Dempsey’s Story from Pakistan
Just like one’s immediate social surroundings, being part of an online community required mutuality of interest, a certain desirable decorum, and above all, the will to engage in meaningful, very often a reassuring, and dialogue – whether in form of direct person-to-person communication or comments on blog posts. It was living in a world of [...]
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