Poetry Workshops Continue as Speaker Series Takes a Break This Week

“The sun playing on loam,

And the first dust of spring listing over backlots –

I proclaim once more a condition of joy.”

– Theodore Roethke, “I Cry, Love! Love!”

This excerpt comes from the second section of Roethke’s “I Cry, Love! Love!” – a poem dominated by lovely and at times surreal wanderings. The second line, with its mention of “the first dust of spring,” feels appropriate to the period of seasonal flux we find ourselves in at this time of year.

Upcoming this week

Poetry Workshop on March 15: Home, House, Neighborhood: The Places We Inhabit

with Anita Skeen

Anita Skeen will continue our virtual poetry workshop series on Tuesday, March 15, via Zoom, with a workshop titled Home, House, Neighborhood: The Places We Inhabit. Just like people, places change, and through the course of the pandemic, new situations, difficulties, and contexts have affected our relationships with those spaces that we call home. Whether we feel this effect on the micro level of the houses or apartments we occupy, the macro level of our neighborhoods and communities, or a little bit of everything, you can be sure that exploring those places with new eyes and fresh insights will be a restorative, cathartic experience with Skeen at the helm.

Anita Skeen’s workshops, popular with students, fellow educators and writers, and those of us here at the Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation, promise to facilitate spaces of compassion, self-exploration, and connection with others. For a more intimate perspective on Skeen’s life and work, read this Lansing City Pulse article celebrating Skeen’s legacy and involvement with the Residential College of Arts and Humanities (RCAH) at Michigan State University. See her page at Michigan State University Press to read more about and purchase some of her work.

Looking Ahead

Speaker Series continues on March 22:The Creative Life and the Perpetual Question: Is It Madness or Sanity?

with Jennifer Clement and Dr. Suzanne Mallouk

If you’re already excited for this event, that makes two of us! Next Tuesday, March 22, at 7pm, Jennifer Clement – a novelist, poet, and the first woman to head PEN International – and Dr. Suzanne Mallouk – an artist and psychiatrist who works with artists – will join us on Zoom for a conversation about Clement’s biography, Widow Basquiat, which is driven by Mallouk’s own writings and stories. The pair will explore their personal experience on this topic as opposed to a scientific, medical, or academic discussion, and this event is sure to be enriched by their unusual background as a part of the 1980's NYC art scene, as well as Clement's upbringing in Mexico and her contact with Surrealism.

Praise for Widow Basquiat:

“With short, episodic chapters, Clement delivers real insight into the life of the brilliant artist as well as the glittering—but ultimately chaotic—world that consumed him. A disturbing and poetic biography of a talented but massively flawed artist.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Sublime, poetic . . . A harrowing, beautifully told love story about two seekers colliding in a pivotal moment in history, and setting everything, including themselves, on fire.” – Rebecca Walker, New York Times bestselling author 

“A brilliant account of the relationship between Basquiat and his muse and lover . . . a compelling book that leaves a giant-sized lump in the throat . . . Clement hypnotises us with a vivid portrait of Basquiat, powerfully evoking his inventiveness as an artist.” – Independent on Sunday (UK) 

“Widow Basquiat, first published in the UK to incredible acclaim, is the striking story of an artist whose impact would echo beyond his time in the visual art world—in the United States and abroad—and through the voices of musicians such as Macklemore, Jay Z, and Frank Ocean alike. A captivating coming-of-age story, a heartbreaking romance, and a powerful exploration of love, addiction, race, fame, and the commodification of art, Widow Basquiat shows the artist as you’ve never seen him before.” – Crown Publishing

Register here for the event with Jennifer Clement and Dr. Suzanne Mallouk. We look forward to seeing you there!

Special Thanks & Additional Info

Thank you to Tess Gallagher for providing such a rich and enlightening evening as we all learned about the satori moment together. We greatly appreciate you sharing your “satori moment confetti mind gifts” with us, and your insights leave us all better suited to handle the chaotic, frantic reality we often exist in.

Moderator Carol Barrett put it wonderfully at the close of the event last Tuesday: “I hope as we reflect on what we’ve heard, that we will find new openings. That, even in our brokenness, we will find a way to open again, because the world needs us to do that. We have gifts that need to be shared, especially now, in this time when there is so much brokenness.”

For more about Tess Gallagher’s books and where to purchase them, see her listings at Graywolf Press.

Speaking of gifts that need to be shared, thank you to everyone who attended our second poetry workshop with Jared Morningstar! We can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on, and we hope you’re enjoying these creative moments together with our workshop facilitators. Don’t forget to let us know how it went in the post-workshop survey!

• Visit Jared Morningstar’s page on GoodReads for links to purchase his poetry and story collections, American Fries and American Reality, as well as his advice for aspiring writers and more.

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

• You can purchase Widow Basquiat here and Jennifer Clement’s other publications on her author page.

• Visit Dr. Suzanne Mallouk’s page on Panel of Experts for more on this upcoming speaker.

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

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