Poetry as Memoir Program and Book Reviews

Shari Wagner, Poet Laureate of Indiana, is affiliated with the Indiana Writer's Center (Indianapolis). She presented a workshop on poetry as memoir. The participants needed to bring an object that was passed down to them from a deceased relative or friend.

Here are some of the main points that I took from the workshop:

 Book Recommendations and Using Imagery in Poetry 
 Book Recommendation: The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser.

 When writing a poem, paint with words. Most poetry is in free verse.

 Use similes and metaphor in poems.

  End your poem with an image. End your poem with a new perspective.

 Write your poem as if it were a mystery.

 Don’t be sentimental in poems. Don’t write as if the person is reading over your shoulder.

 Images instead of sentiment can be used in poetry.

  Use details that appeal to the senses. Use details of the giver of the gift.

 We read “The Box of Beads” by Jane Kenyon, “Flow Blue China” by Ted Kooser, and “Buckeye” by Shari Wagner. 

List Poem

·        We read “What I Learned from my Mother” by Julia Kasdorf

·        Variation… I learned to…

·         Verbs are important

·        Writing exercise—list to learn from a person.

·        Shari defined persona poems—speaking in another voice

·        Shari mentioned to set time to write every day around the same time. Even 10-15 minutes.

·        Weave a thread to follow.

·        Use past or present tense.

·        Use perspective and mystery in writing.

The beginning and the ending of poems are important.

 In addition, Shari has a couple of poetry books that we have in our collection at MCPL.

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