So today begins the Spring Session of the AWP Writer 2 Writer program. There were nearly 400 applications for this session and a total of 25 mentors and mentees were matched for the program. I was fortunate to be one of those 25. It took applying to 6 sessions so I suppose 6 was my magic number.
I've been paired with poet and musician Ken Waldman who has done this once before. What I've already learned about Ken is that he is all energy. He travels a lot and is non-stop about his art which includes poetry and music. He's not into social media but makes hundreds of contacts the old fashioned way. Person to person. The program is broken into 6 modules and the start of this first module has me pondering the following questions,
There are also some recommended activities to in and a chance to do some short or long term goal planning for my writing. Looking forward to learning from Ken.
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Brought a lot of reading material back from AWP and among them theses two books. These are what I presently am reading. The Bride Minaret by Heather Derr-Smith and Then Come Back - The Lost Neruda Poems. Just prior to leaving for AWP I finished reading Derr-Smith's book Tongue Screw which I will likely review here in the near future.
Saturday evening and I'm resting my tired legs from 4 days of AWP Conference in Washington D.C. Tomorrow, it's back home with new reading material as well as tons of information to process. Additionally, I was accepted into the AWP Writer 2 Writer Mentoring Program. Above I am standing with Diane Zinna who directs the innovative program that has to be one of the most exciting member services available. I am matched with a mentor Ken Waldman for the Spring session. There are two sessions each year - and so far about 200 writers have been through the program. I applied for the program 6 different sessions and finally was matched. On the final day I was able to meet Shaindel Beers, author of two poetry collections and one of my favorite poets. After reading both her books and interacting with her for several years no on social media it was cool to connect.
One of the most fascinating panels I attended was the Manifesto Project. I also picked up a copy of the Manifesto Project published by Akron University Press. I'm sure I will have more to say about this work in the near future. |
AuthorMichael Allyn Wells - notes & musings Archives
August 2024
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