At the intersection of reading and writing, in the spaces where listening, silence, prayer, and wonder happen–there is poetry. There, too, is where I find support for living as a Benedictine. Some months ago I decided that my blog will focus on “Reading, Writing, and the Benedictine way of life.” Since then, I’ve been pondering …
Judith Valente–poet, journalist, and Benedictine oblate–on "How To Live" Read More »
Being writers is what people are; becoming published is what writers achieve when someone believes they have something to say. Publication validates you. It says someone thinks: your writing is understandable; your writing is interesting, and therefore your writing is publishable. Being published means you get to take on the ridiculously impossible challenge the privilege of writing for strangers who don’t really care about you. Readers are busy people. They …
Three Haiku after Winter Swelling buds and apple blossoms emerging. Winter’s stars sink westward, new hope awakens. Listening: the full stream rushes, it rejoices. Traditionally, Japanese Haiku is a form of syllabic poetry of three lines, with 5 syllables in the first, 7 in the second, and five in the third (17 syllables total). English-language poets …
Becoming a writer is like becoming who you are meant to be. It’s uniquely personal. No two lives, and no two writer’s journeys are the same. Here’s what my journey toward becoming a writer has looked like so far: Throughout my book-wormish childhood and adolescence, I kept picking up pen and paper, writing stories, poems, …
You want to write a fine poem, don’t you? Poets.org says that the effect of a sestina, achieved through intricate repetition, is often spectacular. In a sestina, six words, repeated in a prescribed pattern, take the place of a rhyme scheme, weaving an enchanting web of sound for six, six-line stanzas plus one three-line stanza. I …
Are you interested in writing poetry, and connecting with other writers? Are you wondering whether there are any benefits to writing and reading poems? To explore these questions, I’m inviting you to eavesdrop on my long, virtual conversation with Violet Nesdoly, as we cyber-talk (or, more accurately, as we type back and forth) about …
How poetry ignited a long-term online friendship: a conversation with Violet Nesdoly Read More »
Should you or shouldn’t you write that book? 3 WRONG REASONS to write a book: You think the life of a writer is enviable and glamorous. BZZZTTT. Any real writer will unfailingly tell you that writing is not glamorous. It’s a lot of lonely, hard work. You figure if you can just write a best-seller, …
5 right reasons, and 3 wrong ones, for writing your book Read More »
Thank you, thank you, to my many blogging friends who bring Europe to me! I’m proudly American, but I lived in Germany and went to school there, and had the chance to get around Europe. So my loyalties are divided. The USA has abundant natural resources, stunning landscapes and an almost crazy amount of …
In response to Richard Gilbert’s suggestion that I tell the story behind the story of my book (which is about, among other things, “becoming a writer”), I’ve been writing a series on poetry’s influence on my development. Poetry was my first love. And although poetry is no longer my one and only literary infatuation, I …
Wordsworth was twenty-eight years old when he composed Lines in 1798. 190 years later, I was twenty-eight when I first read his poem, and immortality touched me. I had tried repeatedly to appreciate Wordsworth’s poems. I trudged through them only because they had been assigned and I was a dutiful student. But I found his poems difficult …
Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey: my love affair with poetry, part 3 Read More »