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 lovers—whether you’re new to writing or a seasoned pro—to join us virtually for as many sessions as you’d like. You’ll meet new people, reconnect with old friends—and in a month of social distancing, help build a community.

Meeting Dates and Topics:

Saturday, April 4:  Prompts for a List Poem

Wednesday, April 8: Prompts for a Metaphor/Simile Poem

Saturday, April 11: Prompts for a  Descriptive Poem  Changed to Narrative Poem

Wednesday, April 15: Borrowing a Line to Start a Poem

Saturday, April 18: Villanelle

Wednesday, April 22: Sestina

Saturday, April 25: Feedback Session

Wednesday, April 29: Feedback Session

How to Join:

Send an email to Balconyofwords@gmail.com by 9 AM on the day of the scheduled meeting. Put RSVP in the subject line of the email. In the body of the email, include your full name, your email address, town of residence. Alex will email you a Zoom link at 11:30 AM on the day of the meeting. Click that link a few minutes before noon and you’ll be ready to go!

Get Published

At the conclusion of National Poetry Month, we invite you to submit your work for consideration in an anthology of poems addressing the COVID-19 pandemic: how Granite Staters are experiencing and responding to isolation, job loss, changes in community, family and relationship, school, technology, personal values, sickness, grief, loss or changes in security, freedom of movement, identity, and health.

The anthology will be edited by New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary and will be published by Hobblebush Books in the summer of 2020. Participation in the virtual writing group is not required for publication, nor is it a guarantee.

How to Submit

New Hampshire residents can submit 1-3 poems. Poems should be submitted at www.hobblebush.com/anthology-submission by noon on Friday, May 1, 2020.  Changed to 11 PM on Friday, May 15, 2020, to give writers time to develop their COVID-19 poems. Writers will be notified of the editor’s decision by May 25. Publication will be contingent upon writers responding in a timely way to editorial suggestions. Around fifty poems will be included in the published book.

Hobblebush Books will donate 10% of the cover price for every book sold to an organization providing relief for the COVID-19 crisis in the state. Authors receive a copy of the anthology. Once it is safe to gather again, authors will be invited to participate in face-to-face readings at various bookstores and libraries throughout the state.

FAQs

Who can participate in the virtual writers’ group?

                  Any resident of New Hampshire of any age and any level of experience with poetry.

Do I need to participate in the writers’ group for my poem(s) to be considered for publication?

No—participation in the virtual writers’ group is not a requirement for publication (or a guarantee). We do hope you’ll join us, though!

How do I join one of the Zoom meetings?

It’s super easy! Just follow these steps:

1.     By 9 AM on the day of the scheduled meeting, send an email with the subject line RSVP to Balconyofwords@gmail.com. Include your full name, your email address, town of residence.

2.     Thirty minutes before the scheduled meeting, Alex will email you the link you will use to join.

3.     A few minutes before noon, click the link you received and get ready to have some fun!

I’d like to join the writers’ group, but I can’t make every session. Is it required that I attend every session?

               You can participate as often or as infrequently as you wish. Just RSVP the morning of.

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 you're interested. 

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 playing in the yard

in the bright green grass

jumping, running, and cuteness.

Puppies' fur in the sun.

Do you think puppies are cute.

Broccoli (by Caiden, 3rd grade)

Disgust is broccoli.

Green

A grasslands.

It was in the grocery store.

Do kids even try broccoli?

Entertainment is TV (by Max, 3rd grade)

Jordan got home today and went through the door.

He went to his living room

and turned on the TV. 

It made him sad

because it looked like a void.

A dark, dark void.

Flowing with tears (by Makena, 3rd grade)

Sadness is a river

Blue and dark flowing with tears

Sloshing through hard times

Filling through the years

Would I ever be empty?

Death Trap (by Alex, 3rd grade)

Love is a death trap.

Pink, red in the sky.

Sad up close.

Falling into an infinite loop.

Why is it nice here?

The Box (by Patrick, 3rd grade)

Jealousy is like D.

D. is all colors.

D. always gets knocked

Right at the start of the game.

Why is D. a box?

Sunflower (by Danica, 3rd grade)

Happiness is a sunflower.

A sunflower has yellow petals.

It has soft speckles in the center.

A gust of wind takes you away.

Where did you go?

Empty Can (by Tristan, 3rd grade)

Emotions are paint.

Different shades, different emotions.

Every can is different.

Sometines Empty.

How do you get through?

Getting a New Dog (by Tessa, 3rd grade)

Dogs make you happy because

They are happy and cute--How

They play around in the grass

and the sun shines on them.

Do you like Dogs?

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."

Poets Say What Love Is
                  

We spoke quietly about summers end
a hundred white daffodils
his green-eyed scatter-brain love
a thick gauze of rain stalls over Mt. Monadnock
a love unloved was nevertheless itself

I loved to be lured under the outstretched wings
of hemlocks
the path is visible even on moonless nights
I wanted to go down those steeps
into a place of the unknown
desire lines

So much has changed since then
what he remembers is something vaster
from war to New Hampshire
from Chicago to Mt. Chocorua
stairs go both up and down without ever moving
no deposit.  no return.

Let evening come
and the rain will fall tomorrow
without ceasing, I believe
I am a blossom pressed in a book
but there's work to be done,
and love.


               

                  

Youth Poet Laureate Nominations for 2020-2021

The nomination form for the 2020-2021 NH Youth Poet Laureate 
is now live: https://nharts.submittable.com/submit/162488/nh-youth-poet-laureate-2020-2021

May 15, 2020: deadline to submit nominations

June 2020: NHYPL selection is announced.

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/