WORD TO THE ENGLISH CLUB!

On March 23rd, the CWI English club presented the first Word reading of the semester. Despite the fact that it was held on a Friday night on the eve of Spring Break, there was a full house. I too had nothing else to do on a Friday. (Did I type that out loud?).  But Seriously, it was worth the drive to Nampa.

There were a total of six brave speakers including our classroom's very own Nathanael! The line up included poets, non-fiction writers and even a songwriter. The array of images made for an eclectic palette.
I apologize in advance for forgetting some or most of the names of speakers, my notes are hard to decipher.

From the first speaker, a dark and twisted non-fiction story, maybe not suited for the young children in the room. All I can say about that one is that I would have never thought I would hear cinnamon and blood, used in the same sentence.

Next, a young writer with a small cache of poems. My personal favorite was his last poem in which he took a humorous approach to stereotypes. Although, by the number of uncomfortable faces looking around, I'm not sure if it was a fav. of everyone. (Welcome to Idaho.)

Next was our Musician friend, solo without guitar. I always find lyrics interesting when they are being spoken. For some reason, they lose a dimension in translation. I think the writer was extremely passionate and brave for sharing so many of his songs.

Next, a semi-autobiographical poet/writer, who reminds me of someone..but I can't put my finger on it..hmm.
I appreciated the realism in his writing. Often we forget that life is full of poetic moments all on their own.

Nathanael Peterson was our next poet. I didn't realize she was the same poet who wrote "Learning Korean" in the second edition of Caliper, which happens to be one of my favorite poems. She was full of witty epigrams that for me was a high point. There is nothing better than a great epigram.

The faculty speaker of the night, Kelly Ford, was definitely worth the wait. Her short non-fiction story "You will miss me when I burn," was a little gritty and passionate western. She proclaimed to borrowing the title from a Bonnie "Prince" Billy song, which I had no idea who that was. I googled him and that is a whole other blog in itself.
I really hate to compare writers to other writers because I feel like every writer should be their own thing. But this story really reminded me of the contemporary writer Annie Proulx. Ford's writing style is organic and comes off natural and easy to visualize, which is also a trait of Proulx.
Fav, quote from the story, "A beautiful girl, like a good horse, can change the world."

Great end to another successful Word.