The Real Writer

From NEA: Info Regarding the Arts and Economic Stimulus

There has been much public conversation recently regarding the role of the arts and culture industry in economic stimulus.

Following is information that seeks to clarify this issue through two key points:

--that the arts and culture industry is a sector of the economy just like any other with workers who pay taxes, mortgages, rent and contribue in other ways to the economy;

--and that the National Endowment for the Arts is uniquely positioned to assist in job stimulation for that industry.

For the full statement, visit http://www.arts.gov/news/news09/arts-and-economic-stimulus.html

Symposium Marks 250th Anniversary of Robert Burns' Birth

“My love is like a red red rose That’s newly sprung in June; My love is like the melodie That’s sweetly play’d in tune.” From “A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns.

 

            To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, in collaboration with the Scottish government, will present a free public symposium on Burns’ life and work, as well as his impact on America and American culture.

“Robert Burns at 250: Poetry, Politics and Performance” takes place Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 24 and 25, in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave S.E, Washington, D.C. The two-day event is produced in cooperation with the Library’s Center for the Book and the Poetry and Literature Center.

The symposium begins at 3 p.m. on Feb. 24 with a presentation on “Burns, Politics and Politicians” and a talk on “America’s Bard” by Robert Crawford, professor of literature at the University of St. Andrews. Crawford is one of Scotland’s leading poets, a noted literary critic and a widely published scholar. Crawford’s address will be followed by readings of Burns’ poetry and performances of his songs by renowned Scottish scholars and performers Margaret Bennett and Ed Miller, and award-winning Scottish journalist and broadcaster Billy Kay.

The symposium reconvenes at 9:30 a.m. on, Feb. 25, with a panel discussion titled “Burns and His World.” Speakers include Nat Edwards, from the National Library of Scotland, who will give an overview of Burns’ life and career; Ted Cowan, University of Glasgow professor of Scottish history, who will compare and contrast “18th Century Scotland and 18th Century America”; and a presentation on “Robert Burns and the Scots Language” by documentarian Billy Kay, author of the influential history of the Scots language, “Scots: The Mither Tongue.”

Following lunch, a second panel discussion explores Burns’ relationship to the folk and traditional culture of Scotland. Valentina Bold, head of Scottish studies at University of Glasgow/Dumfries Campus, speaks on “Robert Burns and Scottish Traditional Song.” Singer and scholar Margaret Bennett, assisted by folklorist and performer Ed Miller, follows with a lecture and demonstration on “Robert Burns: A Life in Song.”

“Poetry, Celebrity and the Public” is the topic of next panel. The Library’s Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry Kay Ryan joins Scottish poet Robert Crawford and Myra Sklarew, former president of the Yaddo artist community and professor emerita of literature at American University, to explore the role of poets as “literary lions” in both 18th-century Europe and the contemporary world.

The symposium closes with an overview of Burns materials in the Library of Congress by Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center, and a discussion titled “Tomorrow’s Bards: Promoting Reading and Literacy in Scotland and the United States.” Cate Newton, director of collections development at the National Library of Scotland; Marc Lambert, chief executive of the Scottish Book Trust; and John Y. Cole, founder and director of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, will explore how reading, cultural literacy and creativity are fostered on both sides of the Atlantic.

More than a poet, Burns (1759-1796) has served as an icon and inspiration for generations of artists, politicians, social activists and cultural reformers throughout the world. Burns began writing poetry and song lyrics at the age of 15. In 1786, he published his first volume of poetry, “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect,” in Kilmarnock. The volume was an immediate critical success, and a second edition printed soon thereafter in Edinburgh proved a financial success. In the decade that followed, Burns’ works were published widely in books and periodicals. He contributed to compilations of Scottish songs and ballads, submitting his own original poems as well as verses based on traditional songs and poems collected from folk performers.

A talented poet in Scots and English, Burns was also a dedicated collector of folk songs and tunes, an able musician and a gifted lyricist. He is credited with preserving more than 300 Scottish songs, often setting his own lyrics or traditional lyrics to new or revised tunes. He contributed hundreds of lyrics to publications, such as George Thompson’s “A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice” (1793) and James Johnson’s “The Scots Musical Museum” (1787-1797). Among his best known songs are “Auld Lang Syne,” “Scots Wha Hae” and “Flow Gently Sweet Afton.”

The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Advance registration is strongly suggested. For more program information and to register on-line, visit http://www.loc.gov/folklife/Symposia/Burns/. For further information, contact Nancy Groce at (202) 707-1744, ngro@loc.gov.

The Library’s holdings include almost 700 works by and about Robert Burns, including some early editions that were published during the poet's lifetime. Burns' impact on luminaries of American culture — including Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. — are also reflected in the Library's extensive holdings.

The American Folklife Center was created by Congress in 1976 and placed at the Library of Congress to “preserve and present American folklife” through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation, reference service, live performance, exhibition, public programs and training.

The Library of Congress, the nation's oldest federal cultural institution, is the world's preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s Web site http://www.loc.gov/ and via interactive exhibitions on myLOC.gov.

 

A Writer's Gathering Journal - A Variation on the Gratitude Journal

Before I explaing a 'gathering journal,' let me explain a 'gratitude journal' for those of you who have never heard of it before.

A gratitude journal is a way of cultivating an 'attitude of gratitude,' as the phrase goes, by sitting down each night just before bed and writing down 5-10 things you are grateful for. Most people suggest 5 as that's fairly manageable, but others say 10, if you're ambitious. I say go for 5. Why make it a competition with yourself? That defeats the purpose.

The reasoning behind this is that, if you are feeling gratitude, you will draw more things to you to feel grateful for. You will be appreciating all the positive things in your life that you love, that make you feel cared for (by yourself and by others), and you will see, feel, and receive more positive things. I think we're all familiar with, and have experienced, the truth of the idea that if we are looking for the negative, we will find it. If you decide you're having a bad day, all sorts of things will happen to support that: spilled coffee, traffic, a fight with your spouse. Same with positive.

So where does a Gathering Journal fit in?

This way: if you can do this with gratitude, why not apply it to your writing as well? What if you took a few minutes every night to write down 5 things you know and like about a piece of writing you're working on?

Maybe you're working on a poem and you know exactly the theme and tone you want it to have, but you haven't yet found the right way to convey one or both of these? Write down that you know exactly the theme and tone. And maybe you have a killer opening or closing line but the middle is muddy. Write down that you have a killer opening or closing line.

Focus on what is working. Focus on what you know and like and you will draw in - from that mysterious place from which writing comes (part us, part the collective unconscious? you decide) - more that you will know and like about your piece.

I believe that, when we are working on a writing project, if we keep our eyes and ears and hearts open, we are provided with direction and information that will guide us through the process of writing the piece. Too many times I've heard a song, or picked up a book, or overheard a conversation and known immediately that information about my character, or the plot, or an image or phrase belonged in what I was working on. 

But you have to stay open. If you're too rigid about what you think the story or poem or essay should be, there's no room for anything you haven't planned on to enter. And the unplanned or the 'mistake' is often where the best stuff is.

The Gathering Journal is a place to collect that information, as well as recognize yourself for what you do right as a writer. What you are good at. Too often we focus on our weaknesses - in workshops and critique groups - and this is useful, to a degree. But you need to receive balanced comments about your writing; that's the only way to get better. If you're not getting that in workshop and critique group, then do it for yourself!

And you need to believe - and should believe - that you do certain things well. That you are growing as a writer, rising to meet the challenge of - if not mastering -  what were once weaknesses.

You decide how you want to construct the ratio of your list. 4 things you know and 1 thing you like about the piece. Or 3 and 2. Maybe you do 6 things and 3 and 3, or 10 things and 5 and 5. But both what you know and what you like need to be represented.

The Gathering Journal also serves two other purposes:

-when you're stuck and can't seem to move forward on the piece, you can reread the lists and review all that you know. This will most likely jumpstart and inspire you. I bet you find something you wrote down that you forgot to incorporate and now you have a place to begin.

-if you're feeling down on the project and your skills as a writer, you can reread the lists and see all the successes (what is going right) you've already had in your work - and this is crucial - whether or not you finished the piece or it was or wasn't accepted for publication.  

THERE IS NO FAILED WRITING. All writing is practice and practice moves you forward. Teaches you. Increases your level of skill. We rarely attempt something and do a stellar job the first time. There is always something of value in what you've written, something that propels you another step forward.

So try it. It will be a record of your evolution as a writer, and keep you on the lookout for tips and clues to further whatever you are working on. A little like a treasure hunt, only the treasures find you and you just have to collect them. And they will come.