This was super helpful to read, Maggie. Thank you. I've been clinging on pretty tightly to an idea for a collection, but something about the idea that it might run out of stream struck a chord. Your piece here is encouraging me to zoom out a little and see if there is a broader 'territory of thought' at work, which this initial collection idea might feed into and be dispersed within. So thank you for this gift.
Maggie, hi! just getting to this Friday night at the brew pub with playoffs in the background. Hello Ohio!
You really do a great job of demystifying the process of compiling a manuscript...something I have yet to tackle. I have to admit personally I can feel a bit shut out by the sections...like I'm not in on the secret!
I remember the poet Philip Larkin (& librarian for many years at the University of Hull, England where I grew up) being asked if he had enough material for another collection after High Windows. He said he only had the filler poems and not the thematic ones...and then he turned down the Poet Laureateship because, he said, poetry had left him...Ted Hughes' gain.
I like how you referenced this too in your own way. Well placed smaller poems. Showing your range within the 15 poems of the manuscript.
Thanks for coming back to this topic. It's encouraging me to handle the whole endeavor a bit more lightly. My tendency is to make a meal of everything that feels important!
So much good food for a hungry writer’s soul. I look forward to your book and would also like it to be signed. I may have to come to your next reading, book signing or event for that purpose. Thank you for giving us a glimpse into what it means to be you, as a writer, a friend, a mother and a wonderful fellow human being.
This was super helpful to read, Maggie. Thank you. I've been clinging on pretty tightly to an idea for a collection, but something about the idea that it might run out of stream struck a chord. Your piece here is encouraging me to zoom out a little and see if there is a broader 'territory of thought' at work, which this initial collection idea might feed into and be dispersed within. So thank you for this gift.
Wonderful, Ruth! I’m glad this was helpful.
Maggie, hi! just getting to this Friday night at the brew pub with playoffs in the background. Hello Ohio!
You really do a great job of demystifying the process of compiling a manuscript...something I have yet to tackle. I have to admit personally I can feel a bit shut out by the sections...like I'm not in on the secret!
I remember the poet Philip Larkin (& librarian for many years at the University of Hull, England where I grew up) being asked if he had enough material for another collection after High Windows. He said he only had the filler poems and not the thematic ones...and then he turned down the Poet Laureateship because, he said, poetry had left him...Ted Hughes' gain.
I like how you referenced this too in your own way. Well placed smaller poems. Showing your range within the 15 poems of the manuscript.
Thanks for coming back to this topic. It's encouraging me to handle the whole endeavor a bit more lightly. My tendency is to make a meal of everything that feels important!
Thanks for your thoughtful encouraging post!
“More lightly”—yes! I’m glad to hear it. Sending all my best, Lizzie.
Thank you. 😊
So much good food for a hungry writer’s soul. I look forward to your book and would also like it to be signed. I may have to come to your next reading, book signing or event for that purpose. Thank you for giving us a glimpse into what it means to be you, as a writer, a friend, a mother and a wonderful fellow human being.