Recommended Reading

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I have come across some great titles that I would like to share with you. All of these books deal with improving your poetry writing.

If you can track them down at your public library, I am sure you will find them to be very useful.

• The Virtues of Poetry. James Longenbach. Graywolf Press. 2013
• How to Write a Poem. John Redmond. Blackwell Publishing. 2006
• You Can Write Poetry. Jeff Mock. Writer's Digest Books. 1998
• Listening to the Bells. Learning to Read Poetry by Writing Poetry. Florence Grossman. Boynton/Cook Publishers, Inc. 1991.

Enjoy your long weekend.

Marie-Therese Colimon Reading Poems

I came across this video of Marie-Therese Colimon reading poems. She is reading in French though, but it is a lovely reading, and I could sense her passion.

Hope my French speakers will enjoy it. 

Marie-Therese Colimon-Hall

Previously, Poets of the Caribbean highlighted the works of Haitian poet, Rene Depestre. This month, we will look at another Haitian writer, the versatile Marie-Therese Colimon-Hall.

Marie-Therese was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1918. Playwriting was her first focus, but she also wrote short stories, essays, novels and poems. She published her first poems under the pseudonym 'Mary Bec'.  In 1975, she won the France-Haiti Literary prize for Son of Misery.

Marie-Therese Colimon-Hall died in 1997.

The following are just samples of this prolific writer's work:

• The Slave Girl (Play)
• The Song of the Musician (Play)
• Marie-Claire Felix (Play)
• Firefly (Play)
• My Notebook Entries (selection of poems)
• At Pipirite Singing (a collection of unpublished poems set to music by Angel Mendez)

 

Word Weaving, etc.

Hi readers,

Hope you are enjoying the nice Fall weather, if you are in colder climes, and if your are not, I do hope that you are soaking up some sun on a beautiful beach somewhere. Good for you.

I am currently reading Word Weaving: A Creative Approach to Teaching and Writing Poetry, by David Johnson as I work on refining my poetry writing. I came across this interesting quote in his book:

"To create poetry is as natural as breathing. Poetry and breathing have an essential connection".He goes on to share the following quote by Edmund Carpenter:

"In Eskimo, the word 'to make poetry' is the word 'to breathe'; both are derivatives of anerca--the soul which is eternal: the breath of life. A poem is words infused with breath or spirit. "Let me breathe of it," says the poet-maker and then begins: "I have put my poem in order on the threshold of my tongue".

If you can get your hands on a copy, it is a great read. So, what's on your reading list right now?

This month, I want to re-visit the poetry of Haiti, and will be looking at the writings of Marie-Therese Colimon. As usual, I look forward to your comments.