Learning at a Writers' Meeting

 

Today, I'm going to share several writing world items that I have been musing upon recently. I attended a meeting of a group of writers via Zoom one evening this week. A few thoughts from that group have been swirling through my mind ever since.

A man who writes poetry shared a poem from an anthology that addresses writing as a path to healing. His poem was titled "Fargo Airport, Waiting in a Bar" He wrote about waiting in an airport bar for family members at the time of his father's death, but the poem was written ten years after that happened. It's not so unusual as it often takes time for an enlightening or understanding to take place. I once had this happen, writing a poem many years after a situation when a movie I watched triggered writing the poem.

He said the poem he read to us used a collage. He's at an airport bar having a beer while waiting and thinking about his recently deceased father. He's also reading the signs around the bar and on the beer bottle, so he incorporates a few of them into the poem. Somehow, they fit. I was not familiar with the idea of a 'collage poem.' If it interests you, use the keywords in a search engine to learn more.

The third subject that the poet left me pondering is proof of something I have long thought regarding the writing of poetry. The man has an environmental engineering degree. He has no MFA in poetry. He is living proof that anyone can write poetry and do it well enough to be published. I have never studied the art of writing poems, nor do I know the finer points and advanced terminology, but I write from my heart and have also had some poetry published. Don't ever let not having a degree or studying the art of poetry stop you from trying it yourself. 

A woman who has written more than 20 picture books for children and has illustrated several. She has had a Visiting Professorship in an MFA program. As you can see, she is a very successful and accomplished writer. She, too, has a piece in the anthology dealing with writing as a path to healing. Each contributor was asked to write an answer to the question: 'What scares you about writing?' In her talk the other evening, she said that she fears that each book will be the last piece of writing accepted. So, you see, it is not only the beginning writer who has fears. The ones who have written and been very successful have fears, too. In fact, this author listed ten of them! 

Before anyone complains, let me state that I have no aversion to people attending an MFA program to fine-tune their writing skills. I admire those who do very much. And to be asked to teach a course in one is wonderful. My point is that having a degree like this--Master of Fine Arts--is excellent but not 100% necessary to find success in the writing world. 

I often encourage writers at all stages to attend writing conferences, workshops, and short meetings like the one I mentioned here. In a mere 90 minutes, I learned from others, admired those who were presenters that evening, and continued to ponder on what came from that meeting. 

In a few weeks, I will have a review of the anthology I referred to today as a blog post.