2014 April PAD Challenge: Day 11
One of the refrains from the Austin International Poetry Festival was, “Buy the book!” During poetry month, it’s not a bad refrain. In that vein, I want to remind people…
One of the refrains from the Austin International Poetry Festival was, "Buy the book!" During poetry month, it's not a bad refrain. In that vein, I want to remind people about pre-orders for the Poem Your Heart Out anthology, which will collect the best poem from each day of this challenge, along with a prompt and space to add your own poem. Pre-orders are marked down 20% until May 1, so be sure to buy the book today. Click to continue.
For today's prompt, make a statement the title of your poem and either respond to or expand upon the title. Some example titles might include: "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy;" "Guns Don't Kill People, I Do;" "This Is Your Brain on Drugs;" "Smile for the Camera," and "Be Kind Rewind." Of course, there's an incredible number of possible titles; pick one and start poeming!
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Workshop Your Poetry!
Break out of a rut or jump start your revision process with the Advanced Poetry Course offered by Writer’s Digest University. This course involves workshopping poetry with an instructor and other poets of varying levels.
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Here's my attempt at a Statement Poem:
"You can do more than merely look,"
she said out loud, looking at me.
"Open your wallet, buy the book."
So I paid her the cash it took
and found a seat in the cafe
thinking I could take a quick look
anonymously in my nook
while sipping hot sweetened coffee.
Opened my wallet, bought that book,
and let myself hang on a hook
feeling somewhat literary,
I did do more than merely look.
Thinking, feeling until I shook--
those words did a real job on me,
but I was glad I bought the book.
So don't treat poets like they're crooks
just because their line breaks aren't free:
You can do more than merely look;
open your wallet, buy the book.
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Today's guest judge is...
Joseph Mills
A faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Joseph Mills holds an endowed chair, the Susan Burress Wall Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities.
He has published four collections of poetry with Press 53, including Sending Christmas Cards to Huck and Hamlet.
Joseph’s fifth collection, This Miraculous Turning, will be released in September 2014.
More information about his work is available at www.josephrobertmills.com and he blogs somewhat regularly at www.josephrobertmills.blogspot.com.
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Poem Your Heart Out
Poems, Prompts & Room to Add Your Own for the 2014 April PAD Challenge!
Words Dance Publishing is offering 20% off pre-orders for the Poem Your Heart Out anthology until May 1st! If you’d like to learn a bit more about our vision for the book, when it will be published, among other details.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems. He would be thrilled if you bought the book. Learn more about him here: http://www.robertleebrewer.com/.
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Make a statement by reading others:
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
