Skip to main content

Posts

Call for New Anthology for NH Poets: Poetry in the Time of COVID

Poetry in the Time of COVID: Resilience, Community, and Connection
New Hampshire’s Poet Laureate, Alexandria Peary, is thrilled to partner with Kirsty Walker, President of Hobblebush Books, for a special opportunity for all New Hampshire residents to celebrate April as National Poetry Month during this unprecedented time of COVID-19.
Build Community and Grow Your Writing
Alexandria Peary will facilitate a free, virtual writers’ group during the month of April. This will provide New Hampshire residents a channel for creatively navigating our common experiences. We may be isolated in our homes, but we will come together in this unique way and build an even stronger community.
The group will:
·build community during a time of isolation, ·provide writing prompts related to COVID-19 and our “new normal,” ·offer encouragement and actionable feedback, and ·prepare participants to submit their work for possible inclusion in an anthology published by Hobblebush Books
We invite all New Hampshire poetry …
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

How To Continue Meeting With Your Writing Group During COVID-19

Over the past week, I've been amazed by the resourcefulness of my fellow writers in the state in the face of this COVID-19 curve-ball-to-seemingly-everything. Whether it's holding Portsmouth's Beat Night on YouTube or figuring out a way for Poetry Out Loud high school finalists to perform online, we're finding a way to continue our poetry and connect. 
People have shared with me their disappointment about not being able to continue meetings of their local writing groups. COVID-19 could disrupt, in some cases, twenty continuous years of people meeting to share poetry. Here's some good news a poet can use: I think you can still meet, still share your work, still keep your tradition.
If you're in a writing group based in New Hampshire and are looking for ways to continue meeting, I'm happy to help you build an online way to meet. 
It takes about 30 minutes to set up and is pretty easy for your members to use. Send me an email at Balconyofwords@gmail.com if yo…
Post a Comment
Read more

Poems By Third Graders at Hills Garrison Elementary School (Hudson, NH)

On Monday, March 9, third graders at Hills Garrison Elementary School came together to celebrate poetry and practice figurative language. Here's what the students wrote during our writing session! They're deep thinkers.

A puzzle (by Leah, 3rd grade)
Love is a puzzle  Yellow brightens the day. A big, thoughtful heart gets overtaken by depression. You are a shortcut to wonder.
Emotion Ocean (by Meredith, third grade)
Our emotions are waves in the ocean Blue like sadness or green like jealousy You can see the emotions dancing in the water It goes in and out and catches the emotions as it grows older Why do you give us sadness?

Madness is  a Hammer (by Lily, third grade)
Dark and black Hard brown handle Scrapped up Why is it so dark colored

A Rainy Day (by Izzy, third grade)
Sadness reminds me of stained glass. Purple, green, red, and blue. It looks like a tapestry of drops and puddles. What does sadness remind you of?

Happiness is Puppies Playing (by Anonymous, 3rd grade)
Puppies play…
Post a Comment
Read more

Congrats to Mary Anker For Her Poem Honoring NH Poets Laureates

Congrats to Mary Anker from Portsmouth, NH, for her winning poem celebrating New Hampshires Poets Laureates. Mary's "Poets Say What Love Is" deftly incorporates lines from an incredible eleven state laureates: Walter Butts, Richard Eberhart,  Patricia Fargnoli, Alice Fogel, Donald Hall, Marie Harris, Cynthia Huntington, Jane Kenyon, Maxine Kumin, Paul Scott Mower, and Eleanor Vinton. 
Here's how Mary described her writing process for this poem:
"The fun of research began in December 2019.The poets presented as compelling characters, then teachers, heroes, and finally beloveds.Initially I thought that some might stand out and speak to creating an honoring poem.They all stood out!They all write about love: for nature, for words, for spouse, children, parents, and of details, geography, self, and their need to write.

I began to collect lines...The seed began to grow while on buses, airplanes, at a desk, a kitchen table, on a lap. It practically birthed itself."

P…
Post a Comment
Read more

REALM Contest for Middle and High School Literary Magazines

If your New Hampshire middle school or high school runs a student literary magazine, here's a wonderful opportunity to possibly receive national recognition for your school's creative writing:

REALM: Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines. 

Last year, three New Hampshire schools were recognized for achievement with their student literary magazines: Pelham High School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Portsmouth High School. Congrats to you three!

This year's deadline is July 31, 2020. For more information go to: https://ncte.org/awards/program-to-recognize-in-student-literary-magazines/
Post a Comment
Read more

I'll Be Your Reader Continues...

Get a reader: the state poet laureate!
The first month of "I'll Be Your Reader" was fun: thanks to everyone who sent their poems. So let's continue for a few more months!
The first poem to arrive in my email box on Thursdays will become my morning reading material, enjoyed with coffee. The writer must be a current resident of New Hampshire, but poets of all ages and backgrounds can send work.
I promise that you will have my full attention. I'll read the poem (up to 100 lines) and send you an email by day's end. I won't offer feedback or criticism: just a note that I have read and enjoyed your piece. (It can be immensely refreshing to know that someone has read your writing with appreciation, in a judgement-free zone.) Details:

1. Cut and paste into the body of the email or send as a PDF attachment (if line breaks and page formatting need to be preserved). Send to Balconyofwords@gmail.com
Post a Comment
Read more