More About Pat Riviere-Seel

I had planned to do a wonderful post on Pat Riviere-Seel's reading and discussion at City Lights bookstore yesterday and had it all set up with numerous links and photographs. After a good while of work getting the images and words arranged as I liked them, I tried to paste in another poem, and lo and behold, the whole page vanished.

 So, Pat, I'm sorry. I don't have time to re-do this page, of which I was so proud. But I am going to post the photos from our morning in the Regional Room, which you described as "magical."  For you readers who don't know Pat's work, please go to this link on  My Laureate's Lasso blog for an introduction to her work and, best of all, more poems.

Here's the bookstore cat, snoozing on the top of the sofa as we were leaving.  Pat said she especially wanted a photo of him, so here he is.  I wonder if our discussion put him to sleep?

Our reading and discussion circle in the Regional Room. Nobody looks asleep in this group! Except for the cat, of course.  You can see him sprawled just behind Carolyn Elkins' head.

Pat, flanked by poet-friends Susan Lefler, who drove over from Brevard, and Jeannette Cabanis Brewin.

Pat discusses the process of writing The Serial Killer's Daughter and the mystery of entering into the internal landscape of her characters' lives.

Bill Everett, poet, novelist, and retired professor of theology and philosophy reminds us the the origin of "mystery" comes from the Greek "mysterion," meaning something that is unknowable.

Carolyn Elkins, Joyce Foster, and Pat Montee like what they hear.


And they weren't the only ones.  We are grateful to City Lights Bookstore for letting us use the Regional Room for our monthly gatherings--and grateful to Netwest for inspiring us to bring Coffee with the Poets eastward to Sylva.

Campbell Folk School Offers Poetry/Prose Workshop with Karen Paul Holmes.

Karen Holmes, one of WNC's up and coming poets, is offering a workshop at Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, one of the loveliest places on the planet. Karen is also a prose writer and a web designer. She knows her material! You can find her on facebook, by the way.

The class is an all-genre writing class and here are the details, following the Monet water lilies, which just may inspire you to begin writing, even before you sign up for Karen's class.

January 30- Feb 5, John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC
"Sing and Paint with Words"
This is a writing class for poets and prose writers where we will look to the other arts for ideas and inspiration. In other words, we'll "call all muses" to help us write. We'll listen to music, look at art and share great lines of authors and poets. We'll have plenty of class time to write and prompts to get us started. You might decide, for example, to write about what you hear in a piece of music or how it made you feel. You might even decide to create a character in a short story or poem who plays the violin or paints like Monet. Or you might simply get a burst of creativity to finish a project or start a new one. The week will include tips on editing to make your work the best it can be and one-on-one coaching sessions. What a great way to kick start your New Year's writing resolution.

For more information and to register, call the Folk School today 1-800-FOLK-SCH or visit www.folkschool.org

The class is wide open, so a "local resident" 50% discount on tuition ($276) will apply if you live in one of the qualifying "local" counties.

William Everett: Coffee With the Poets

William Everett gave us a thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable reading and commentary about his poetry at our last Coffee With the Poets at City Lights Bookstore on August 19. Bill is both novelist and poet and a former professor of Ethics and Theology. He is fluent in German (he's done translations) and Lord knows what else. He's mostly fluent in poetry, however, and we were delighted to be able to welcome him to Sylva. After the reading several of us retired downstairs to Spring Street Cafe for lunch and a casual poetry workshop around the table. What could be better than good food and poetry?

Bill was waiting in the Regional Room of City Lights Bookstore.

We were immediately joined by Charlie, the Bookstore Cat!

Food, glorious food! Muffins, cookies, coffee, lemonade, and so on.

Bill organized his presentation around his journey as poet. His earlier poems showed his ear for the sounds of language and the influence of poets whose work he has admired in the past. He is clear about how the poetic tradition guides and instructs us as we write our own poems.

The following are some early poems he read. To read more about Bill, go to his website www.williameverett.com.

Rusted roofs
---where children played,
Graybeaten boards
---engrained with laughter,
Christmas pines in morning
--drape the walls
---in shadow calico.
The sun bakes down
--the flower patch,
A puppy hushed in memory
--underneath the porch.
Old folks whisper in the weeds,
--it was not so,
--it was not so.


9-10-83

Round red lips pubaceous
Smile in the glossy of the party
Frozen on the yellowing page,
A sentimental daiquiri
Of tender expectations.
How, with whom and where
Will teasing eyes find their reflection?
Who will find the woman
In the girl in the taffeta gown?

3-27-87/4-6-10

Sweet lady,

if
in tinseled tear
you pray the evergreen upon us,
supplicate the lavish laughter of your heart
to snow upon the muddy traces of our mind.

12-17-80

Nan Watkins, prose writer, translator, and musician, listens.

After Bill's presentation, Newt Smith read some new poems. We continued our comments on his work at lunch.

Dianna Jurss, below, on the left, will be the featured poet in September.

IF ARE IN THE AREA, PLEASE JOIN US ON THE THIRD THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH FOR COFFEE WITH THE POETS AT CITY LIGHTS BOOKSTORE IN SYLVA, NORTH CAROLINA. PHONE: 336-9499. WEBSITE: WWW.CITYLIGHTSNC.COM.

ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE: MARY MIKE KELLER

When Mary Mike Keller read her poem "As the Deer" at our Gala Publication party for Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, hosted by City Lights Bookstore two weeks ago, I was swept away. It's a beautiful poem, and she read it beautifully. This poem is yet another reason to own a copy of Echoes. Go to the Echoes page on Facebook and take a look. Or the Netwest blog. You will find information on how to purchase the book.

As The Deer

The dulcimer drones tranquil

as the pick grazes across strings

as the deer across the glade

My thumb under f sharp mimics

her tongue curled to pluck

a blade intoned on b

Quietness slides along her body

my finger descending the string

in a smooth slur of music

The sweetness of the melody

new as young grass lingers

in the lea of my instrument

A barre chord trembles

I wait

for that last unfettered fret

----Mary Michelle Brodine Keller

Mary Mike reads her poem at the Gala event.

COFFEE WITH THE POETS: WILLIAM EVERETT

(William Everett at the July Coffee With the Poets)

On August 19 City Lights Bookstore will welcome poet and fiction writer William Everett as guest. Bill is a Netwest member, the author of eight books and many poems. He will read and talk about his journey as a writer, his creative process, and engage participants in their own ways of accessing their voices. The event will take place in the Regional Room of City Lights at 10:30. After a break for lunch, there will be a two hour writing workshop at 1:30. Participants should bring copies of one poem or excerpt of prose for discussion.

Bill maintains a website (www.williameverett.com) which I highly recommend visiting. Here is his announcement of his visit to City Lights next week. You will have to go to his site to read the second poem!

On Thursday, August 19, I will be reading and reflecting on my poetry at 10:30 am for the “Coffee with the Poets” group at City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC. The poet’s group is just one of several under the umbrella of the Netwest Mountain Writers, affiliated with the North Carolina Writers Network. (Check outwww.netwestwriters.blogspot.com.) We are convened by Kay Byer, a former NC Poet Laureate, who has graciously encouraged me to reflect on my thirty years of often hidden poetry writing. As I have been reflecting on this welcome task, two poems popped up that I thought I’d share with you. They both involve the quirky, unexpected way that poems elude our normal patterns of perception and expression. I thought you might enjoy them.

I Love That Poetry

Do you like poetry? I asked.

Oh yes, he said. Last year I went to see a poet

Maya Angelou and she was beautiful.

The curtain opened and the spotlight lit upon her hair,

not white, but lustrous gray.

She wore a long crushed velvet dress, much like a kaftan,

bell shaped sleeves descending to wide cuffs

embroidered with a band that looked like kinte cloth.

A long string of pearls draped down from her broad shoulders,

picking up the highlights in her hair.

She was surrounded by a bank of ferns that reached up to her waist

as she sat down among them.

The ferns were like extensions of the dress. They billowed like her hair.

Oh, it was gorgeous. I just love that poetry.

I’m glad you liked it, passed my lips. Perhaps you might cut off a little more

above my ears. I want to look my best tomorrow night.