Best-Selling Author
"I wrote for twelve years and collected 250 rejection slips before getting any fiction published, so I guess outside reinforcement isn't all that important to me."

~Lisa Alther, best-selling author.

Labels: author, Fiction, Lisa Alther, publishing, rejection, wild women, wild words, Wild words from wild women, writers, Writing

  posted by Matildakay at 1:19 PM 0 comments

Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Kate Gale, editor of Red Hen Press out of Los Angeles, California, sat reading from a poetry book before beginning her workshop “Editing Poetry: Entering the process whole and coming out humming.” Her wet hair fresh from the Tenaya Lodge swimming pool was a metaphor for her no bullshit attitude about poetry.

Is poetry still being published? At another panel I heard someone say poetry was dead. According to Gale, poetry is not dead, but you won’t get rich publishing poetry. I for one was excited that there was a poetry workshop at this year’s conference for I am a lover of poetry.

Gale opened the workshop reading two poems, one from the book she had been reading by another poet and one of her own that she had been working on for a few weeks. Her poem was rich in imagery, emotion, insecurities, and fireworks, literally fireworks as she found a way to express a woman’s self-worth issues and her desire to receive recognition from her lover as a request for fireworks. I may not be interpreting her poem correctly, but I loved Gale’s voice. Her poem grabbed my attention and took me on a journey.

I found the poetry workshop very constructive and informative as Gale mapped out the process of writing and publishing poetry. She answered questions regarding publishing poetry in literary magazines and publishing collections of poetry that I have always wondered about.

She stressed the importance of reading poetry to get in a poetry frame of mind before writing. Of making writing a practice and a priority, good advice for any writer. How important creative writing workshops are that will give you rigorous feedback on your work. And what type of poetry is currently being published.

One thing Gale said that really stood out to me is, “Great poems are where the creative meets the intellectual.”

And really that is the type of poetry I want to read and write.

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

Labels: Kate Gale, Noveltown, Poetry, publishing, Red Hen Press, workshops, Writing

  posted by Matildakay at 9:11 PM 0 comments