“And soon a branch, part of a hidden scene,
The leafy mind, that long was tightly furled,
Will turn its private substance to green,
And young shoots spread upon our inner world.”

– Theodore Roethke, “The Light Comes Brighter”

Whether you’re in one of the upcoming poetry workshops, ready to let your leafy mind sprout with ideas, or you’re just excited to see a little bit of that sprouting happening outside as spring begins to (finally) take over, the light is coming brighter every day. We’ve got more poetry workshops over the next couple weeks, which you can read more about below. Stay tuned for announcements regarding the Saginaw Chapbook Project and new developments we’re working on to accommodate all of you who couldn’t make it into a workshop!

Our virtual speaker series will be taking a brief pause until mid-April while we host the fourth of our six poetry workshops. Read on to find out more about what’s coming up.

• Upcoming this Week »

• Looking Ahead »

• Special Thanks and Additional Info »
  

All of our poetry workshops are currently full. If you can’t get into a workshop: Please email chapbook@friendsofroethke.org and let us know which one you’re interested in. We’ll put you on a waiting list. We’re also working on a way to let you all contribute to the poetry anthology and celebrate with us at the book launch. We’ll provide details as this comes into focus, but the first step is to reach out via email and let us know you’re interested.

Upcoming this Week

Poetry Workshop on April 5: Not Missing the Moment: The Ten-Line Poem in the Time of Crisis
with Anita Skeen

When all the conflicts and crises in our lives swarm our minds, we can get lost in the muck of it. Writing constraints, such as a limit of ten lines, can help us to process our feelings and reactions by forcing our minds to operate in a compressed space. We are able to pause our anxious wandering in these small spaces, and are empowered to proceed toward realizations and revelations that may lead us to a comfort in closure. As Skeen writes in the event description, good things persist amidst darkness: 

“We have time, if we take it, to notice the small things we would have missed in the normal fast pace of our frantic pre-pandemic lives.  There are treasures around us we have left undiscovered.  There are small moments of joy that are more important now than they were.”

Looking Ahead

Poetry Workshop on April 12: Defining Moments: Narrative and Image in the Emotional Shift Poem
with Carol Barrett

Contrary to popular opinion, narrative is not a craft element exclusive to the novel or short fiction; poets can use it too! We have all experienced moments in our lives that mark an enduring change and have a resonant, symbolic significance to us, and those moments are valuable starting points for poetry. Through narrative and image, the emotional shift poem locates and highlights how our lived experiences have affected us, allowing us the space to process those moments with greater patience and clarity.

With her dual doctorates in Creative Writing and Clinical Psychology, poet and seasoned workshop facilitator, Carol Barrett, is sure to impress while you learn more about how to work the defining moments of your life into poetry. 

Like our other poetry workshops, this is a generative workshop, meaning the focus is on creating new works rather than on revising old ones. However, you are welcome to bring all the old sentiments and experiences that inspired previous poems or poetic thoughts and ideas – you’ll explore these to write new pieces in the workshop!

Saginaw Chapbook Project Submissions Due by April 19: A Reminder for Poetry Workshop Participants

We’re just over two weeks out from the submissions deadline for the Saginaw Chapbook Project. If you’ve participated in any of our poetry workshops, you are eligible to submit the work you created in that workshop – so don’t forget to send us the final drafts of your poetic projects and lyrical labors by April 19. We’re looking forward to reading and publishing the work you share with us!

Special Thanks & Additional Info

Thank you all for your interest in our poetry workshops! The upcoming workshops are full, and there are more people that want to participate than we anticipated. We’re working on ways to bring more of you into the Saginaw Chapbook Project, so stay tuned for further announcements. For now, we’re immensely grateful to have generated so much interest in our home communities. Your investments of time, energy, and interest are what keep us afloat. 

Speaking of investments of time, energy, and interest, let’s give our workshop facilitators an at-home round of applause! They’ve graciously volunteered their time to run these workshops and support community writers, in addition to managing the responsibilities in their regular busy lives. Thank you Carol Barrett, Jared Morningstar, and Anita Skeen for everything you’ve done and continue to do for us and the community through these workshops and more. We feel so fortunate to have you working with us on the Saginaw Chapbook Project!

For our workshop participants, stay tuned for more information about May events: day trips to the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, a bookbinding workshop at SVSU in May, and a book launch celebration at the Roethke House. We hope that you’ll share the poems you’ve created in these workshops with us for publication in the Saginaw Chapbook Project, and we can’t wait to share your words with the community!

• For more from Carol Barrett, check out this review of her book Pansies (purchase here) from Mom Egg Review, and read a sample of her poetry at The Grief Diaries.

• Check out Anita Skeen’s page at Michigan State University Press for more about her books and where to purchase them.

Thanks to generous support from Michigan Arts and Culture Council, Arts Midwest, Ohio Arts Council, and National Endowment for the Arts, our events are free and open to the public through May 31, 2022.

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Kellie Rankey holds a BA in Creative Writing from SVSU, where they currently remain a student. Their work has appeared in The Normal School, Tiny Molecules, and the Michigan Sociological Review, and is forthcoming from Wrongdoing Magazine.