Marvin Bell has written a fine poem on an impossible subject. In its sweep, yet anchored in strong, precise images that anchor the ideas that America was founded on…in its inclusion of family, of people who work with both hands and heads…for me, it’s a true poem—perhaps even a great poem—of the beat of what…
(Photo from http://www.writespirit.net/inspirational_talks/political/martin_luther_king_talks/martin) Yesterday I attended a magnificent brunch celebration for Martin Luther King Jr. and the upcoming historic inauguration of Barack Obama. Freida Wheaton’s home art gallery named “Studio 53” was a fitting backdrop for this salon–a gathering of the most prominent African Americans in St. Louis and its expanded metro area…reaching as far…
Photo from Aerphant. A tidbit from my Author’s Guild Bulletin caught my eye: “Comfy: Where do you do your writing? For a book of photographs, The Writer’s Desk, by Jill Krementz and published in 1996, John Updike wrote the introduction. “He was interested that some writers seem to avoid a desk entirely. Updike wrote, ‘Walker…
You can read this new post by clicking here. I am building a series that will later be collected in an e-book and small printed pamphlet. It might also, eventually be presented as an online course.
This week in St. Louis at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood neighborhood, I attended a rousing session of poetry written and read by both the noted Quincy Troupe and another poet fried Patrick Rosal at the Observable Readings series founded by Aaron Bell and now sponsored (it’s free!) by the St. Louis Poetry Center.\ In…
Map from Virtual Explorers (http://www.virtualexplorers.org/ghana/map.htm). Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, my West African speech gave way to my Midwestern speech. I am going home…to my ancestral home, the place of my father awaits, heart beating as promised, and the place of our foremothers and forefathers. This December homecoming pilgrimage to Ghana has been a thorough-going…
Note from Catherine Rankovic: Dear Writers: I will be teaching the graduate Creative Nonfiction Workshop at UMSL this summer. For Metro-area residents the cost is just under $900. You do not have to be in their MFA program to enroll, simply write well enough to take a graduate course (3 credits) and be a good…
I tried to do it alone and failed, so I know that professional writers need friends and specialized knowledge if their goal is to publish and thrive. As writing coach Steve Buttry puts it, “No train, no gain.” It took me years to figure out that, like any other professionals, writers need instruction, moral support,…
Between December 6th to January 7, Riehlife goes on holiday as Janet travels to Ghana, a place she lived and worked for several years in the 1970s. This trip will be far more simple than her August trip to Southern Africa. Because I’ll only be staying in two locations, I’ll be taking a few more…
Click here to read an earlier Riehlife post relating to Dempsey’s writing process for “Two Candles.” Ernest Dempsey uses the defining image of light as the threading metaphor through his collection of 74 selected poems contained in 84 pages. Light as an archtypal image is the perfect connecting theme as Dempsey’s mind roams classic philosophic…