Furman University visit -- Nov. 3 and 4, 2015

A huge thank you to professor and poet Bill Aarnes for inviting me to Furman University last fall to give a reading and visit with his poetry class for a discussion. The reading was held on the evening of November 3 in McEachern Lecture Hall. Besides students (whose presence is always a joy), I was delighted to see in the audience several good friends, who were so kind to come out for the reading: Nancy Dew Taylor & Maggie, Claire Bateman, Terri McCord & Brian Slusher, Gil & Barbara Allen--my gratitude to you all. 

The class visit the next afternoon was another joy. The students were eager to participate and had astute questions to ask me about my collection My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass, which they had read for the course. It was a class of about ten or eleven students, the perfect size for having a lively poetry discussion--and for learning from one another. Bill Aarnes has done an excellent job of bringing the class together into a close-knit group, which made my visit all the more enjoyable. Thank you again, Bill and student poets!

Looking back on the Queens Univ. MFA alumni weekend, Oct. 8 - 11, 2015

What a treat to return to Queens University of Charlotte campus for an alumni weekend this fall. I was pleased to be in a manuscript workshop masterfully taught by Jon Pineda, who teaches in the Queens MFA program. In the workshop with me were three other poets, with whom I enjoyed exchanging book manuscripts and feedback: Torie Dailey, Geoffrey Hall, and Lee Stockdale. We were a close-knit fivesome, learning much from Jon and his good advice for our manuscripts.

I also enjoyed being on a publishing panel with two other alumni, as well as running the open mic after dinner on Friday night. Here was the weekend's schedule:


Thur., Oct. 8  Evening alumni reading: Clifford Garstang, Rebecca Gummere

Fri., Oct.    9  Publishing Panel: Clifford Garstang, Rebecca Gummere, 
                     Susan Laughter Meyers  
                     Craft Seminars  
                     Reception & dinner, open mic 

Sat., Oct. 10  Seminar
                     Workshops, 2 sessions
                     Book publishing seminar

Sun., Oct 11  Individual conferences
                     Lunch

Looking back--fondly!--on the 2015 Carolina Mountains Literary Festival (CMLF)

What a wonderful weekend the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival was back in September--the 11th and 12th--in charming Burnsville, NC. The groups in my two discussion sessions, as well as the poets in my poetry workshop, were bright and eager to participate. Each person there made the time with the groups that much more special. And what talent in the poetry workshop!

I'm grateful for being one of the presenters for this beautiful festival. The highlight was Saturday night's on-stage conversation between Ann Patchett and Barbara Kingsolver. So entertaining, memorable, and wise! If you have a chance to go next fall, don't miss it.

Sept. 10-12: Carolina Mountains Literary Festival

I'm excited to be teaching a poetry workshop and presenting two poetry sessions at this wonderful fall festival -- a free literary celebration for readers (and writers). Come to Burnsville, NC!

The 10th Annual
Carolina Mountains Literary Festival
Thursday – Saturday, September 10-12, 2015

Our Earth…Our Time…Our Space…

Celebrate the stories of our shared earth.  Reflect on our pasts and wonder about the possibilities for our futures.

Alan Gratz ~ Alexandra Duncan ~ Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle 

Ann Patchett ~ Ashley Adams English ~ Barbara Bates Smith 

Barbara Kingsolver ~ Beth Revis ~ Brent Martin ~ Lisa Blackburn  

Lynn McLure ~ Sue Wasserman ~ Catherine Reid ~ Christopher Scotton 

Hilda Downer ~ Jason Mott ~ Jay Erskine Leutz ~ Jeremy Jones  

Jim Rogers ~ Marci Spencer ~ Mary Ann Claud ~ Mindi Meltz 

Sara Gruen ~ Saro Lynch-Thomason ~ Shelby Stephenson 

Susan Laughter Meyers ~ Wiley Cash ~ Will Harlen

cmlitfest.org Carolina Mountains Literary Festival « cmlitfest.org

The 10th Annual Carolina Mountains Literary Festival Thursday - Saturday, September 10-12, 2015 Our Earth...Our Time...Our Space... Celebrate the stories

CMLITFEST.ORG

Saturday, May 2: Workshop in Columbia, SC

The Poet as Seeker

With

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

 

Saturday, May 2, 2015

10 until 3

 

"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door," says Emily Dickinson. What better way for a poet to become seeker than to make the self available to possibility? As poets, we have questions to ask, some without answers; leaps to make, risks to take; mysteries to ponder. We must pay attention and be patient--which is to say, we must be willing to listen to the poem as it is being written.

 

In this workshop we'll head out into the unknown, as we read exemplary poems from our class packet and generate new work of our own. (Feel free, too, to bring a poem draft that you're working on in an attempt to reach a deeper level in some way.) As seekers, we'll follow Bernard Malamud's advice to "Teach yourself to work in uncertainty." Who knows where our poems will end up? Come, let us open every door--and window!

  

A Writing Workshop
by the Broad River
in Columbia, SC

 

Susan Hendricks invites you for a day of poetry
and expressive writing among friends
in the natural setting of river, forest and wildlife

near downtown Columbia

  

Register:     

           Registration fee: $40

           By email to susanhendr@gmail.com

           By mail to 5 Possum Run, Columbia, SC 29223
           For Questions, phone 803-788-6826

 

Limited to 25 participants

Directions will be provided to registered participants

 

Susan Laughter Meyers, of Givhans, SC, is the author of My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass, winner of the Cider Press Review Editors Prize. Her collection Keep and Give Away (University of South Carolina Press, 2006) won the SC Poetry Book Prize, the SIBA Book Award for Poetry, and the Brockman-Campbell Book Award.  A long-time writing instructor, she has an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte.  http://susanmeyers.blogspot.com

How I enjoyed teaching the PSSC/Emrys seminar

The poetry community in Greenville, SC, is a talented, energetic one that I was delighted to be in the midst of for its annual PSSC/Emrys seminar last month. Nancy Dew Taylor, a long-time leader in both organizations, started this event in Greenville five years ago—and what a contribution she has made to this region's literary calendar with it. Seminar instructors so far have included Becky Gould Gibson, Cathy Smith Bowers, Jillian Wiese, Phebe Davidson, and me. Each year about 15-20 people gather for the opportunity to focus on a poetry topic—typically pertaining to craft or poetics. The seminar can consist of lecture, discussion, and writing—all as a way to further explore the day's subject. Thank you, Nancy and attending poets, for your participation and help in illuminating our topic this year, "Complicating the Poem."

The Poetry Society of South Carolina (PSSC) is proud to work with Emrys Foundation as sponsors of this event. Much appreciation to Emrys's president Vera Gomez for her leadership and for participating in the seminar.

Last month's event:
Saturday, Mar. 28

Emrys/PSSC seminar: "Complicating the Poem"

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m. - noon

Coldwell Banker Caine, 111 Williams, St.

Greenville, SC
Nancy Dew Taylor, coordinator

Feb. 28: PSSC Writers' Group workshop -- "Writing toward a Poem's Mystery"

PSSC Writers' Group workshop:
"Writing toward a Poem's Mystery"
Saturday, Feb. 28
10 a.m. - 12 noon
Charleston Library Society
164 King St., Charleston, SC
Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor
Free for PSSC/CLS members & CofC students
$15 for all others
(PSSC membership, $25 annually; new members welcome.)
Contact: Susan at bardowl2@aol.com

Some of the most enduring poems, those that bear repeated readings, can claim both clarity and mystery. A poem’s mystery is achieved partly by its leaps, when much of the work of connecting—of getting from here to there—is left to the reader. Attendees are asked to bring a poem in progress, one that can benefit from greater mystery. Discussion, writing activities, and workshop packet included.

Feb. 19: Poetry workshop -- "This, Too, Is Me: The Self-Portrait Poem"

Thursday, Feb. 19

OLLI at CCU, Litchfield

Workshop: "This, Too, Is Me:

The Self-Portrait Poem"

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m - 2 p.m.

Litchfield Education Center

  

How I enjoyed gathering with our small group on a cold, cold day for a workshop on the self-portrait poem. We gathered around a conference table to read exemplary published poems and to write a group poem, as well as to each write  a poem of our own. So many possible approaches to the self-portrait, and it was fun to hear the various approaches that workshop participants took. 

Nov. 13 -- Poetry Workshop: Opening the Gates of Imagination

Every fall and late winter I look forward to teaching half-day workshops in the OLLI at CCU program at Litchfield, SC. The next one is less than a month away, and I'm busy working on it now. It's always an engaged, supportive group eager to read, write, and discuss poetry. Here are the details:

Thursday, Nov. 13

OLLI at CCU, Litchfield

Workshop:

"Opening the Gates of Imagination"

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m - 2 p.m.

$30 (plus $20 OLLI membership)

http://coastal.edu/olli

843-349-6584

_________________________________

Opening the Gates of the Imagination   

"I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart's affections and the truth of the imagination," said John Keats. In this workshop we'll explore how the imagination can evoke emotion in a poem. In-class writing, discussion, class packet. Within two weeks after the workshop, participants have the option of e-mailing a poem to the instructor for feedback. Lunch can be brought or bought nearby.

Thursday, May 1: Poetry Critique Workshop

Poetry Critique Workshop

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

Thur., May 1

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

OLLI at CCU

Litchfield Education Ctr.

Bi-Lo Shopping Center, 14427 Ocean Hwy

Litchfield/Pawleys Island, SC

Registration: $30, plus OLLI membership  

For further info: 843-234-3422

Our critique session will give you an opportunity for a close reading of your poem(s) by fellow poets. Our job is not to fix your poem but to help you find ways to re-envision it. Please bring about 6-7 copies of 1-3 poems. Class packet included, with a variety of revision strategies. Within two weeks after the workshop, participants have the option of e-mailing a poem to the instructor for feedback.  

Sat., April 26: LILA workshop -- Complicating the Poem

Saturday, April 26, 2014

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

LILA Write Charleston! workshop: "Complicating the Poem"

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

Circular Congregational Church

150 Meeting St., Charleston

Registration: $30; $20 for LILA members/students/seniors

To register: bardowl2[at]aol.com (bard+owl+2 . . .) 

Like our contemporary world, some poems are best understood as complexities. This workshop will look at strategies for moving a poem draft from the simple to the complex--from the linear to the braided, the multi-faceted. We'll be looking for a variety of ways to delve into a subject that is better-served by the complications of research, collage, associative leaps, as well as other approaches that can enlarge and enliven the poem. And the ironic thing is this: to complicate a poem is simple! (If you already have a chosen subject for a poem, feel free to bring a draft or some notes/research.)

Why "complicate" a poem, you might ask. Because certain poems--perhaps with a subject that leans toward being unwieldy--cannot contain themselves in a brief, simple, linear fashion. That's when it's time to break the poem open to see where it wants to go, what approaches it wants to take, who it wants to take with it, and how. We'll be exploring some of the possible paths to take.

Please write me with any questions you might have. As I do with all my workshops, I'll provide a class packet with suggested writing activities, pertinent quotes, and resources for participants to take home and turn to later for further investigation of how our topic.

If you're in the area, I hope you can join us!

For more information about Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA) events, check out the website here.

This year's Press 53 Gathering of Poets

What a great time I had at this year's Gathering of Poets in Winston-Salem, NC, on April 5. It was the fourth year that Press 53 and Jacar Press have cosponsored the event, and my second time attending (this year as faculty). Six of us were on this year's faculty: Jaki Shelton Green, Katherine Soniat, Metta Sama, Keith Flynn, Richard Krawiec, and I. We each taught the same workshop twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I had the pleasure of sitting in on Katherine's and Metta's workshops, and I'm all the richer for those two experiences. My own workshop was called "Losing (Your) Intention and Finding a Poem," a subject which I thoroughly enjoyed investigating to prepare for the day. When thinking about what to teach in classes and workshops, I always choose a topic that I myself want to spend time on and learn from.

Every workshop that I taught or attended at the Gathering of Poets was filled with 15-20 engaged, inquisitive, knowledgeable poets who had much to offer all the others in the room. The sort of gathering that brings about learning and friendships! If you're in the area next year, it'll be the last weekend in April. Do go if the opportunity arises, and be sure to register early as the day accommodates only 53 registered participants, a small but mighty group.

Mar. 11: Reading & workshops at The Cooper School

The morning of Tuesday, March 11, was my time at The Cooper School in West Ashley, near Charleston. First I gave a brief reading to a room full of young students seated before me in a semi-circle on the floor. The room was full of windows, so I had the joy of seeing the children's smiling faces and, behind them, the sun shining on the lovely small campus. I read a few of my poems and a couple by other poets.

Afterward I met with two classes for workshops—a 4th- and 5th-grade class and a 2nd-grade class. The first workshop had about 18 students and the other about 14—ideal for a workshop to generate new poems. We wrote a group poem in each workshop and then spent time starting individual poems. Such delightful, enthusiastic students, who are lucky to have such dedicated, caring teachers. Thank you, Cooper School!

Tomorrow's poetry workshop: "Persistence and the Poem"

I'm looking forward to teaching an OLLI at CCU workshop at the Litchfield Education Center tomorrow. Because it's on "Persistence and the Poem," I've been thinking a lot about digging deeper when writing a poem, not giving up on it too soon. It's hard to sit there and keep at it when you don't know which way to turn, or what's working and what's not, or how much of what you've written you'll have to ditch—but the thing is to keep going. All those matters can be dealt with later. I like the idea of being persistent. It's a good life lesson. And, hey, it's fun—if you consider the discomfort of squirming in your seat fun.

It’ll be my first time teaching in the new Litchfield Education Center. We’re a small class so we’ll happily meet in the conference room around a big table. Nothing beats the camaraderie and imaginative thinking that go on when a bunch of poets get together.

Nov. 9: Seminar for The Poetry Society of SC

The Epistolary Poem: Letters from Within
A Seminar
Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

“Good letter poems are satisfying to steam open,” says poet Robin Behn. Though their subjects may seem ordinary, beneath the surface lies urgency. Written to an individual but meant to be read by many, they allow the poet to be both intimate and public. We’ll immerse ourselves in the epistolary—with discussion, writing, and letter poems, such as Jane Springer’s “Dear Blackbird” and Melissa Morphew’s “The Missionary Writes to Her Fiancé Concerning Blindman’s Bluff.” Let’s delve into the imagination—and, this time, strike up a correspondence.

_________________________

Saturday, Nov. 9
10 a.m. -- noon
The Charleston Library Society
164 King Street, Charleston, SC
Registration payable at the door:

•     $10 for PSSC or Library Society members
•     $15 for nonmembers
•     free for College of Charleston students

Queens University of Charlotte MFA alumni conference: Oct. 4 - 6

It was a treat to gather with other MFA alumni at the Queens campus to attend a weekend of seminars and socials. Debbie Scott and I took it all in and enjoyed ourselves immensely. At the open mic on Friday evening I had an opportunity to read a couple of poems from My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass for the very first time, and, yes indeed, it felt great!

Debbie and I both have joined the newly formed Alumni Council to offer suggestions for future alumni programs. Thanks to Fred Leebron and Michael Kobre, along with Melissa Bashor, for all the work it took to put this conference together.

Hats off to Hub City! A few words about their Writing in Place conference

Last weekend's Writing in Place conference, offered by Hub City Writers Project and held at Wofford College, was the 13th annual one—and what a wonderful weekend it was. Betsy Teter, the brain and heart of Hub City, truly knows how to plan a conference. Lots of classroom time, of course, for the workshops focusing on writing something new in the particular genre—but also readings by faculty and workshop participants, casual receptions that gave us time to get to know one another better, a panel on publishing, and a couple of concurrent Sunday workshops on specific topics. Plus plenty of good food! 

In the poetry workshop I taught—“An Arrival of Poems"—there were 13 participants: talented, dedicated poets who came together in the spirit of not only writing new work but also encouraging the others in the class with their own writing. I felt lucky to have such a congenial, hard-working group gathered together for our three sessions. Thank you, poets! 

And thank you, Hub City, for this gift of time, as well as the chance for each of us to allow ourselves  to wander off in a new direction with our writing, to try something we don't yet know how to do--to risk sounding clumsy and maybe even silly—but ultimately to trust that eventually it's all leading somewhere we need to go.

 

College of Charleston Advanced Poetry Workshop

Debbie Scott and I enrolled in English 402, the Advanced Poetry Workshop III at the College of Charleston (CofC) this semester, and it was a true immersion for twelve or so weeks. We completed the course yesterday. Professor Emily Rosko, author of Prop Rockery and Raw Goods Inventory, couldn't have been any more teacherly--in a good way!--and focused on being sure that her students grew as poets, readers, critics, and students in general. For the course we read--and discussed and wrote commentary on--seven collections of contemporary poetry. We each led a class discussion of one of the books, and we each twice served as one of two critics for workshopping 5-8 poems of  a classmate. We wrote at least a poem a week, sometimes in collaboration with a partner. And we critiqued the poems written by our collaboration partner. In other words, we were busy learning!

Here are the books we read: Tracy K. Smith's Life on Mars; Kathleen Peirce's Mercy; Beth Bachmann's Temper; Ann Marie Rooney's Spitshine; Shane McCrae's Mule; Mary Ann Samyn's Inside the Yellow Dress; and Wayne Miller's The City, Our City.

The capstone assignment for the course was to put together a chapbook of poems, of about 15-20 pages, and even to design a cover, write an artist's statement, include a table of contents/dedication/etc. I spent a good part of the last few weeks working on that--and a huge chunk of this past Monday and Tuesday trying to figure out how to sequence the pages correctly so that they could be printed out chapbook size in the right order. The process about drove me nuts; but by cutting and pasting a dummy copy, I finally managed to do it.

Thanks to all the bright young poets in our class for welcoming Debbie and me into their poetry lives--and especially to Emly Rosko for orchestrating and teaching such a wonderfully rich, thought-provoking course.

Poetry Workshop: Beyond Craft -- Feb. 21

POETRY WORKSHOP: BEYOND CRAFT
Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor
Thursday, Feb. 21
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
OLLI at CCU
Litchfield Exchange location
(exact venue TBA)
Register in person or online at webadvisor.coastal.edu (click on Continuing Ed)
$30, plus OLLI membership
 

When starting a poem, you are often writing blindly, not following a familiar path or arriving at answers but moving in uncertainty. The overriding issue is not a matter of craft—but how to proceed, how to find your way to the real poem. Class packet included. Within two weeks after the workshop, participants have the option of e-mailing a poem to the instructor for feedback. Lunch can be brought or bought nearby. (You may want to bring your own lunch, since our exact venue is uncertain.)

How important is our poetry?
          

            “The words you speak

            become the house
            you live in.”                    —Hafiz

 

Yes, we are choosing words. But when we’re deep in the process of writing, they are partly choosing us, too. Without measuring each move, we accrue sounds, rhythms, meanings, connotations, and so much more along the way. Each of us and our words are building something, the poem. It’s a makeshift hut we’re constructing in that first draft. Somewhere in our messy construction site is the real poem, or the path to it, and our job is to find it.

Please come join us for the workshop!

Saturday, Nov. 15 poetry workshop: Fishing for Poems

POETRY WORKSHOP: FISHING FOR POEMS
Susan Meyers, instructor
November 15, 2012

Thurs.,10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 
Waccamaw Higher Education Center
160 Willbrook Blvd., Litchfield, SC

 

In this writing workshop we’ll be casting for poems, our method somewhat like throwing out a fishing line in first one spot and then another. By the end of the workshop, participants will have several poem drafts to take home for revision, as well as new strategies for filling the poetry pail. Class packet included. Within two weeks after the workshop concludes, participants have the option of emailing a poem to the instructor for feedback.

Lunch can be brought or bought nearby.

XWRIT 524 W03      
$30, plus one-time-per-semester $20 OLLI membership fee
To register: 843-349-6584