We asked for help moderating our next online book discussion, and boy did we get a wonderful gift in response. Sandra Kleven, writer and MFA student at UAA’s low-residency program, has created a wonderful website for this Thursday, January 7 online event. You certainly don’t have to be a poetry expert to take part. I’m not, which is why I asked for Sandra’s help! Whether these Alaska poets are familiar favorites or entirely new to you, what a great way to get a little poetic infusion this new year.
Sandra Kleven is a published author, poet, student, clinical social worker, and much more. You’ll find some of her own poems and links to other writings at her “Heartworks” website. Her latest project is a short film, “Where is Ted Roethke?” being shot in Seattle from January 1-16. Kleven’s most recent published work can be found in the first issue of CIRQUE JOURNAL, “Jaden is Calling.”
If you’re curious about how our online book club discussions have worked in the past, check out the discussion of “And She Was” by Cindy Dyson, moderated by Deb Vanasse last September.
And one last request to our most passionate poetry lovers out there: can you help us spread the word about this event? If you’d reach out to friends and fellow readers by email, Facebook, or any other kind of word-of-mouth, we’d really appreciate it.
Thanks are due to the poets who have generously allowed their poems to be posted online. They've okayed the webpage with all it's accoutrements, including links to the poets' websites and to their publishers. I suggest reading the poems aloud between now and next week as a way to fully experience it. I will. Meanwhile, I am working on the Roethke film in Seattle, casting for an actor to play "a bear of a man."
Holy cow, the almighty its/it's confusion reigns, even on a writers' website! To clear things up: "It's" is used solely for the contraction "it is." (Think of the apostrophe replacing a letter.) There is never punctuation in the pronoun (its)!
Ahem. My duty done, I am off to make errors in other arenas.
The Grammar Grouch
Deer Grammar Grouch,
Its surprizing that youd not reelize that we cant help but have a few typos on a blog, especially in the comments area. (I'll stop now. It hurts to make that many mistakes on purpose.) Comments are typed quickly, and there's no easy way for a visitor to go back and make corrections without deleting the entire comment, which is a pain in the a**.
Hmm, I'd hoped my tongue was in cheek, trying to make light of a common misuse that also happens to be my personal cross to bear. One of the things I dislike most about blog culture is the sense of rush, both to say things that don't really need to be said, and to do so sloppily. In this case, calling out the latter, perhaps I did the former. Ugh.
In any case, I appreciate all your work on the site (sight? cite?)
Yours,
–GG
Looking forward to Thursday
Great stuff!
Thanks, 49 Writers! Looking forward to Thursday!
P.S. to Anonymous Grammar Grouch — tongue-in-cheek noted. I hope my reply was read in the same way, and I hope people continue to leave comments without worrying about potential typos! 🙂