I'm off to Longview, WA, this morning, to give a workshop and a reading at Lower Columbia College. It's a 2-3 hour drive, and I'm hoping the unrelentlingly unsettled weather we've been having (rain, wind, and leaden skies one minute; sunny, blue, and clear the next) finally settles down and decides which it is going to be. I love driving or road trips, and often get a poem or two written in my head as the scenery floats past. It's this weird trance state that driving induces, I think. At some point I usually end up pulling over on the side of the road, or into a rest stop or diner, so I can jot things down on paper before I lose them.
I have 4 workshop exercises planned: lyric/sensory poem first; then Scrabble poem, Abecedarian, and Tabloid poem. We'll all do the lyric poem exercise; and then the attendees will be able to choose one of the last three to focus on. I say attendees as I don't know if this will be mostly students, teachers, general public, or a mixture of all three (I'm hoping for a mix).
I'll give a short reading in the evening, to help launch the new issue of the school's lit mag, The Salal Review. And, best of all, I get to visit with old friend Joseph Green and his wife Marquita.
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4 comments:
I love driving too. I'd rather road trip than fly if I can manage it. It clears my head of the stress voices and lets the quiet stuff come to the surface. I always feel like writing when I'm driving. I think there's something about autonomy there, too, that's connected to writing.
Have a good trip,
Gina
Wonderful reading. Thanks Peter. Also the scrabble poem was most fun: "Ibid Xenogenisis" was a muse inspired random chance operation. Thanks for playing the muse. Been surfing through the blog, and am overhwelmed by the immensity of the phenomenon. When we talked during the music after your show, I mentioned that I had taught the first distance learing undergraduate poetry coure called "Virtual Poetry" in 1995. 10-years ago, I thought we were so avante garde, now one struggles to keep up with the new trends. It was a pleasure to meet you.
Hi Gerard. It was great to meet you at the workshop/reading. Great Scrabble poem you made.
Joe and Marquita mentioned that your last name was Donnelley. That is my mother's maiden name. . . who knows, maybe we share some relatives?
I will check out the Swans site and get back to you.
--Peter
Gina, Ivy: thanks. It was a fun trip; but I didn't much writing done on the road this time. The weather was too unsettled; including a major hailstorm driving down. I did get some ideas for a revison, though.
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