A PH 2011 mentoring thread - you should be interested!

[CharleyH]

I realize that there have probably been similar threads before this one, but it's a new year and a new year brings newish things. I like to think I am at least 'somewhat unique' so bear with me for a minute.

I can write poetry, even really good poetry sometimes, but I am out of practice (WAY out). Some of the weekly and intermittent challenges posted on the PH are fun and I partake, but I know I cannot keep up with better poets and therefore sometimes don't even try. I have been on Lit since 2003 and can handle any criticism on my shit, but I am not sure that new poets can, and I am also not sure that they have a venue to shine on the PH because it is (take it from me) very hard for new poets to jump in on poetry challenges when not feeling confident about their skills as poets.

I have a proposal for a kind of mentoring thread and here is how it goes:

For each month this year, one poet with a special talent for metre or forms or even for theme, semiotics, donates their time to the mentor thread. They post a challenge, based on their unique poetry skill for others, and all others have a specific length of time in which to post a poem based on that poets guidelines. The mentor, and anyone reading, can critique each poem.

So ... do I have 12 apostles?

 

[Lauren Hynde]

If I can pinpoint exactly what it is that makes my poetry unique, you can count on me.

 

[CharleyH]

One can never be Lauren Hynde, but a month-long workshop based on an imagery challenge? That would be prime!

1 apostle down, 11 (maybe 10 since we are already into January) to go!

 

[butters]

it would be nice to see this one take off, Charley - right now i'm not sure i can commit faithfully to that much time. i'll get back to you ... all i would be able to offer, though, are thoughts on imagery and sound. let's see who else feels able to rise to this one; new writers would benefit from it, especially.

 

[Firebrain]

I generally write that archaeic nasty -- rhyming verse (I have a few on here). It'd be nice to work with somebody looking to do the same.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I can sort of do triolets and pantoums if that's any help?

 

[Angeline]

If I can pinpoint exactly what it is that makes my poetry unique, you can count on me.

You use really big words.

 

[CharleyH]

Well, at least there is some interest, so this is good. I'll try to flesh out and organize this idea more succinctly so that potential mentors (and workshop buddies? newbies) have a better idea of what to expect from such a thread.

Chippy, I think that I am making the process sound much more daunting and time consuming than it would actually be - but let me try to get some ideas down.

UYS? Come on - you are the inventor of the Annikey!

Hi Ang and Firebrain. *waves*

 

[Angeline]

Well, at least there is some interest, so this is good. I'll try to flesh out and organize this idea more succinctly so that potential mentors (and workshop buddies? newbies) have a better idea of what to expect from such a thread.

Chippy, I think that I am making the process sound much more daunting and time consuming than it would actually be - but let me try to get some ideas down.

UYS? Come on - you are the inventor of the Annikey!

Hi Ang and Firebrain. *waves*

Hi you. 's to you and la hynde.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I generally write that archaeic nasty -- rhyming verse (I have a few on here). It'd be nice to work with somebody looking to do the same.

Hi Firebrain rhyming verse can be used in lots of different forms that have their own rules to follow and the fun is in fitting in those rhymes so that they don't appear forced or sound like Yoda talk!

Well, at least there is some interest, so this is good. I'll try to flesh out and organize this idea more succinctly so that potential mentors (and workshop buddies? newbies) have a better idea of what to expect from such a thread.

Chippy, I think that I am making the process sound much more daunting and time consuming than it would actually be - but let me try to get some ideas down.

UYS? Come on - you are the inventor of the Annikey!

Hi Ang and Firebrain. *waves*

Strewth Charley I hope you're not going to inflict the Annikey on any newbies you'll frighten them away forever!

 

[CharleyH]

No worries, Annie. I'm just trying to tell you that you have more poetic skills than you imagine.

 

[CharleyH]

This is just one idea of how a monthly mentoring workshop could work on the PH. It's by no means the only one, so please feel free to critique or even add your own ideas on how such a thing could work. Hopefully, by the end of January we will have fleshed out something that works for everyone so that as many people as possible have the opportunity to participate.

In order for this to work, we need two things:

- mentors/workshop coordinators who specialize in, are knowledgeable about or who exemplify an expertise in some aspect of poetic writing and who are willing to guide a workshop for at least one month. The syllabus of the workshop would be left up to each individual mentor with the main goal of guiding participants in the creation of a poem based on the theme of the workshop set by the mentor by the end of that month.

- people committed to bettering their poetry or skills as poets and willing to participate fully in the month-long workshop.

As a kind of aside, I think that there should be a sign-up thread where a mentor posts the theme of a workshop and where people who want to participate can sign up. This way, when the workshop thread begins, the mentor can focus on those poets who signed up rather than on every person who posts to the workshop thread (unless, of course, said poet wants to). Also, a sign-up would allow the mentor to determine whether there are too many people for them to handle. For example, what if 10 people sign up and a mentor can only manage to fully comment to and help 5 of them? In this case, the sign up would be on a first come first serve basis and the mentor can breathe easy by focussing only on those 5, 10 or whatever number of individuals they can handle. Everyone else could still participate, but knowing that the mentor can only focus on so many people at once, it would be less likely that other's would be offended. Also, people who are bumped from one workshop could have first dibs for participating in the next.

Time Commitment:
We all have lives and/or jobs, and this is one reason that I thought a month long workshop would be better than a day or one week workshop, for example. I think that no matter how much we work or live, there will be at least a few hours a week that participants can commit to challenges set in the workshop. However, I think that a mentor would be committing two days (or two half days - one to work out the challenge for the week and two - to comment and critique).

How it all works:
It's hard for me to say how each and every mentor will want to run their own workshop (one assumes they know best in their subject area), but I think that each workshop should have the same goal in mind: helping participants produce either better poems or better poetry skills, based on the workshop theme, by guiding them through exercises over the course of the month and by leaving them to write their own poem, open for critique by the whole PH, at the end of the month.

 

[Tzara]

If I can pinpoint exactly what it is that makes my poetry unique, you can count on me.

Judging by that avatar, cribbing off your cleavage would seem, if not unique, at least distinctive.

Personally, I would like you to lead a class on the glosa.

Just an opinion.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Judging by that avatar, cribbing off your cleavage would seem, if not unique, at least distinctive.

Personally, I would like you to lead a class on the glosa.

Just an opinion.

If I get dragged kicking and screaming into this I may need your help ..... you taught me all I know !!

 

[Tzara]

If I get dragged kicking and screaming into this I may need your help ..... you taught me all I know !!

If that's the case, you're in a bad place, I'm afraid.

But I will help as best I can. (He says pluckily.)

 

[UnderYourSpell]

If that's the case, you're in a bad place, I'm afraid.

But I will help as best I can. (He says pluckily.)

pardon me for saying I don't believe you having just finished a pantoum, a form I'd never even heard of before you posted a whole thread showing me the way

 

[Tzara]

pardon me for saying I don't believe you having just finished a pantoum, a form I'd never even heard of before you posted a whole thread showing me the way

Oh, darlin'. I'm just channeling Wikipedia.

Perhaps I should answer Jimmy Wales plea, as apparently his idea made url makes me look intelligent.

Pantoum, eh? Kwel. Or, perhaps cuil, though that didn't last long.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Oh, darlin'. I'm just channeling Wikipedia.

Perhaps I should answer Jimmy Wales plea, as apparently his idea made url makes me look intelligent.

Pantoum, eh? Kwel. Or, perhaps cuil, though that didn't last long.

To have you call me darlin' you can spout any sort of rubbish to me! Ermm are you any good at titles?

 

[Tzara]

To have you call me darlin' you can spout any sort of rubbish to me! Ermm are you any good at titles?

Frankly, no.

 

[vrosej10]

I am not much use for the standard European form of poetry (though I can write a mean pantoum if cornered), I do however have a pretty high level of competency at haiku and surrounding theory, enough to be helpful to someone wanting to learn.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I am not much use for the standard European form of poetry (though I can write a mean pantoum if cornered), I do however have a pretty high level of competency at haiku and surrounding theory, enough to be helpful to someone wanting to learn.

There you go then I stink at haikus

 

[vrosej10]

There you go then I stink at haikus

It's probably you ability to write good European styles doing it. The objectives are really different and it is very hard to switch between. I kind of have to turn off writing the euro stuff for a week or two and read some haiku before I start writng them again.

I can't hear meter; that fucks me up.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

It's probably you ability to write good European styles doing it. The objectives are really different and it is very hard to switch between. I kind of have to turn off writing the euro stuff for a week or two and read some haiku before I start writng them again.

I can't hear meter; that fucks me up.

I can't hear the meter on some of them either but if I you can write a pantoum you must be hearing something! de dum de dum de dum de dum!

 

[CharleyH]

Okay, well since Lauren is already committed to the project and since Tzara has suggested glosa? Maybe we can just start February as glosa month ... see how it goes, see if interest increases and go month to month from there? That would probably be best, imo.

vrosej10: Mm, haiku. Sounds good to me.

 

[CharleyH]

I don't know how to use 'Quick Relpy' so ... is this all kosher?