Birmingham Bards & Brews

On the first Friday of every month (except December) something exciting takes place at the Birmingham Public Library.  It's a gathering of local poets and artists and it offers the public a chance to hear a word for our time.  

Last Friday night we heard poets young and old speaking from their heart about life, the world, and the times. We heard reflections about relationships (familial, romantic, and spiritual). We heard rhyme, free verse, rap and slam poetry as people gave voice to their own experiences of life.

Here is how the event was presented on Bards & Brews Facebook Events site:

About Bards & Brews:

The Birmingham Public Library is hosting a series of poetry slams and open mic nights. Sign up and music begins at 6:30 p.m. and call time is 7:00 p.m. at the host location. Typically held on the first Friday of each month, each slam and open mic will be emceed by performance artist and poetry slam events director Voice Porter. A vendor with a liquor license will provide free beer for sampling and bottles for purchase. Participants must be 18 years or older. Musical performances before each show. Word up y'all!

Bards & Brews is made possible by a generous donation from the Friends of the Birmingham Public Library.

People gather at tables and in rows of chairs

Refreshments are available: chips, dips, cookies, punch,
and selections from a local brewery

Local musicians begins the night

A Spoken Art Form

For many, poetry has been confined to the printed page. Often those pages are seen only in classrooms or read in quite solitude. Too often the words remain unseen on the printed page, closed up on forgotten shelves. Poetry is, in fact, a spoken art form. For me, one of the values of attending Bards & Brews in Birmingham is a chance to hear voices I might not otherwise hear. I can experience something of a life lived from a perspective other than my own.

Last Friday I heard words from my elders as well as the voices of youth. I heard one gentleman speak of his father, a WWII veteran, and heard him express his gratitude for "the greatest generation." I heard a young rapper tell of life as he experiences it from day to day. I heard an actor presenting work that he will debut in New York City in a couple of weeks. Not all of the poets were captured on camera, but you can see a few of them in the photos* above and below. 

Anna Weaver

There was one poet who traveled all the way from Raleigh, North Carolina, Anna Weaver, whose goal is to recite her work at an open mic event in all 50 states. I think she said that she has visited 30 states so far. She blogs at Open Mic Tourist. Perhaps she will soon tell of her trip to Birmingham.

Voice Porter

Bards & Brews is emceed each month by performance artist, Voice Porter, who always brings enthusiasm and professional aplomb to the occasion. He always plugs local talent by getting on his "SOAP" box: "Support Our Artists, Please."

If you are a poet, it is important to share your work in public. Bards and Brews is one place where you can have that opportunity to read what you are writing. You can also find inspiration from others who are writing.

Often the open mic event rotates to other library branches. Last month it was at Iron City, a local entertainment venue, and next month it will be held at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

If you find yourself on a first  Friday of the month looking for a night on the town, Birmingham's Bards & Brews is a wonderful creative outlet well worth your time.

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* All photos are from the Bards & Brews Event site.

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Writing with Emily Dickinson

Last month at the Gifts of a Wordsmith poetry workshop, Emily Dickinson was the focus. It was part of the “The Big Read Birmingham” project in which the Birmingham Public Library teamed up with Birmingham-Southern College to “to enhance understanding of the work of poet Emily Dickinson.”  

Each participant at the poetry workshop was given a copy of The Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson.  We read some poems by Dickinson and then took part in writing a poem patterned after her style.

One of the things about Dickinson is that she would often give concrete descriptions to abstract concepts by making a simple comparison to a physical object. “Hope is the thing with feathers” is one such example.

For our poetry assignment, we were asked to first list three abstract terms. I wrote down:

Joy

Relief

Respite

Once we had our list of abstract concepts, we spent some time thinking of solid objects that can be easily described in concrete terms. I jotted down a few:

Tree              Flower                Man

Rock             Mountain          Woman

Chair            River

The next step was to pick one of our abstract terms and compare it to something solid and objective. Here is what I came up with in my Dickinson-inspired piece:

Respite

Respite is a tree

That grows down in the meadow

Casting shade in summer

And shadow in the fall.

Respite is a steady woman

Who sees through pomp and pretense.

She pulls the chair up close;

She shakes her head and smiles.

Respite is a rock

Emerging from the hillside.

Some will sit,

Some will trip.

Everyone will stop.

Once we had all read our poems, we were instructed to replace our abstract term with another abstract term.  For this exercise, each of us was handed an 3 x 5 card with a word to substitute the one we used in composing our poem. The word I was handed was “desire,” and you can see below how that one word changes the poem:

Desire

Desire is a tree

That grows in the meadow

Casting shade in summer

And shadow in the fall

Desire is a steady woman

Who sees through pomp and pretense.

She pulls the chair up close;

She shakes her head and smiles.

Desire is a rock

Emerging from the hillside.

Some will sit,

Some will trip.

Everyone will stop.

“Desire” seemed to work well in the poem. What do you think?

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Poetry Event Happening May 10

The Gifts of a Wordsmith group meets on the first Tuesday of each month at the Central Library in downtown Birmingham, Ala. This coming Tuesday (May 10), Gifts of a Wordsmith will present a poetry reading in which each will share something of what we have written. All are welcome to come hear our selections.

The festivities will take place from 6:00 to 7:45 pm in the Boardroom on the 4th floor of the downtown Birmingham Public Library. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

For information, e-mail hm@bham.lib.al.us or call 226-3670.

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Friends Writing Good Books: Camille Foshee-Mason

I met up with Camille Foshee-Mason at the Local Authors Expo last month at the Birmingham Public Library. I think it was the second time we have seen each other since high school graduation almost 40 years ago. Camille was there with her memoir, Duty Shoes, A Nurse's Memoir. I had written a review of her book last April and was only too happy to stop by her table at the expo. While I have been in healthcare as a nurse for 20 years, she has spent 40 years in the field and has an exciting memoir about her training and her experiences.

As I stated in my review, "Her memoir stands as a wonderful testament to the role of nurses and their value in the lives of so many today." Moreover, the proceeds from the sales of her book go toward scholarships for nursing students.  Here is the review that I posted in April of 2015:

Duty Shoes, A Nurse's Memoir

Camille Foshee and I were members of the same graduating class in our small town high school back in the day. She immediately entered a nurse training program and soon thereafter began her career as a nurse. I myself would find my way into nursing twenty years later as a midlife career change.  Naturally, it was with great interest that I read her book, Duty Shoes, A Nurses Memoir.  Camile Foshee-Mason has written an memorable account of her career in nursing that makes for very interesting reading and will illuminate for the reader the important role nurses play in the field of healthcare.

Think about the last time you went to see a doctor, you probably saw a nurse first. If you have ever been a patient in a hospital, you have experienced nursing care as central to your recovery in moving toward optimal health. Wherever you access the healthcare system, you will encounter a nurse. Did you ever wonder what that nurse’s training entails or what the life of a nurse is like? You can find out by reading Ms. Foshee-Mason’s memoir. The book is a great model for young nurses and nursing students to get an idea of what nursing is all about. It is also a wonderful way for others to see what nurses experience from day to day.

In Duty Shoes, you will follow a bright-eyed high school student as she begins to test the waters of a career in nursing and then takes the step into professional training.  The author then opens the reader’s eyes into the world of nurse training and practice as she details how her life unfolded into a rewarding career.  Her book provides us with a first-hand account of nursing experience through many avenues available in healthcare today, from community hospitals to home health care.

There is such vivid imagery in the writing that I could clearly visualize many scenes the author described. There was the doctor at work in the delivery room, the visits to rural homes as a home health nurse, the scene of the concerned nurse standing on the heli-pad watching her granddaughter being air-lifted to Children’s Hospital, and so many other vivid scenes.

Foshee-Mason’s memoir is important in a number of ways. I found it to be an excellent example of how there are many avenues open to nurses throughout their careers and it is also a snapshot of recent history in the field of nursing. Another important contribution is in the author’s recounting her experiences as she trained at a hospital-based diploma nurse program. With so much of nurse training moving to college campuses, hospital-based training is becoming rarer, yet it stands as an important beacon in the history of nursing. Moreover, diploma nursing programs have done so much to shape the role of the nurse in modern society.

Duty Shoes, A Nurses Memoir is a fascinating account that will be of interest to seasoned nurses as well as to nursing students or high school students contemplating a career in healthcare. It should also be noted that Camille Foshee-Mason has dedicated the proceeds from sales of her book toward scholarships for nursing students. Her memoir stands as a wonderful testament to the role of nurses and their value in the lives of so many today.

From the back cover of Duty Shoes

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Writing Tips: Haibun

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This is the third and final installment (for now) of Writing Tips from the Gifts of a Wordsmith poetry workshop led by Tina Mozzelle Braziel* at the Birmingham Public Library. I have used “Writing Tips” as a means of celebrating National Poetry Month and also for celebrating the local opportunities we have to learn more about poetry. The poetry workshops continue, on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, in the first floor conference room at Birmingham Central Library downtown.

Writing Haibun

For a couple of years now, I have been writing haiku on my blog, with a new poem each Saturday. That endeavor began when I received so much reader interest in a post about writing haiku. Later, I increased my knowledge of haiku and posted what I had learned in Notes from a Haiku Workshop.  I was not acquainted with the haibun genre, however, until it was covered in a session led by Tina Braziel at the Gifts of a Wordsmith poetry workshop.

The haibun is a genre that combines prose and haiku. It was developed by the famous 17^th century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō.   Bashō was a master of the art of haiku, and would often use the haibun form for what me might call a travel log today. He would write brief accounts of his journeys accompanied by a haiku.

In writing haibun, there is a brief prose reflection followed by a haiku. The haiku and the prose will serve to enhance one another, but each could stand on its own. In other words, they are related, but the haiku does not repeat the prose, and the prose does not explain the haiku.  

Here is one example of a haibun that I found online at Poetry Form – the Haibun: 

    Missing Man

   

    Mid-November after I rake the leaves I stand at Central and First,

    holding the Stars and Bars. All of them died in Nam — my brother Joe,

    my cousin Freddy, mom's youngest brother Jack. Sometimes I just have

    to come out on the streets and stand with my flag. There's no parade.

   

            The smell of burning

            could be diesel

            could be napalm

                               First published in Frogpond 34:1 (Winter, 2011)

So that evening at the poetry workshop, after Tina explained haibun and offered some examples, we each set out to write our own. I was impressed with the work that came from that small group. When I went home, such was my enthusiasm that I shared my first haibun with my wife and had to tell her about others that were written and shared that night.

When I first wrote about haiku on my blog, I did so with the intent of encouraging others to get involved with writing poetry. I saw the haiku as a form that anyone can write. Moreover, it can become a kind of meditative process to allow the writer to pay attention to his or her surroundings. I think the same is true of the haibun form. It is a form that anyone can begin with and it provides some structure for meaningful poetic expression.

For a more detailed introduction to haibun, see Writing and Enjoying Haibun, by Mary Mageau

Tomorrow, I will share a new haibun that I have written, Portal.

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*Note: Tina Mozelle Braziel and Alicia Clavell lead Gifts of a Wordsmith, an adult poetry workshop and Birmingham's Central Library downtown on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. It is free and open to the public. Tina Braxiel is also the director of a creative writing program for high school students which will take place in June, in connection with the UAB English Department. Check out the details at http://www.uab.edu/cas/english/about-us/events-and-series/ada-long-creative-writing-workshop

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April Is National Poetry Month

With National Poetry Month in full swing, there are a number of opportunities locally to celebrate poetry:

The Alabama Writers Forum (http://www.writersforum.org/) “The Alabama Writers' Forum promotes and facilitates the practice of literary arts through its services to writers and the general public. With individual and corporate associates statewide, the Forum represents the diverse voices of today's writing talent. Its community-based programs reflect that commitment and support established, novice, and student writers.”

The Alabama State Poetry Society (http://alabamapoets.org/) “Our primary purpose is to promote poetry as a vital cultural medium,improve our own skills, share opportunities and support one another, and join with others who enjoy the written and spoken word to delight in good poetry of every form and persuasion.”

The Alabama Writers’ Conclave (http://www.alabamawritersconclave.org/) “one of the oldest continuing writers' organization in the United States. Writers, aspiring writers and supporters of the writing arts may join. Sharing information, developing ideas, honing skills, and receiving practical advice are hallmarks of the annual meeting. The Conclave is responsible for nominating, for the governor’s appointment, Alabama's Poet Laureate.”

The Birmingham Public Library hosts a number of opportunities for poets and those interested in poetry. Coming up this Saturday is WORD UP!, an annual poetry slam competition for students in grades 9 -12 in Jefferson County, will be held on Saturday, April 11, at 3:00 p.m. at the Central Library. ( More information at http://www.birmingham365.org/event/detail/441892581/WORD_UP_Annual_Poetry_Slam_Competition_for_High_School_Students).

 Also at the Birmingham Public Library is the monthly Bards and Brews. This event features a fun evening of music, beer and poetry. There is often an “open mic” component to this event where participants can read their own work. This one rotates to a different library branch each month, so check out the library website, or the Bards and Brews Facebook page for event information.

 

Another event at the library is an adult poetry workshop, free and open to the public, that meets twice a month in the first floor conference room of the downtown Central Library. Tina Mozelle Braziel facilitates the group. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in poetry, at whatever stage they may put themselves in: inquirer, beginner, or experienced writer. The group meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

So take some time this month to celebrate poetry! I plan to have a few more posts throughout the month in celebration of poetry.

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Notes from a Haiku Workshop

Last April, I became a student of haiku when decided haiku would be a good way to encourage more people to write poetry. I posted a blog about how to write haiku and was astonished at the interest shown, judging by the number of hits that blog post received. As a result, I decided to begin a new feature on my blog called “Saturday Haiku,” in which I write and post a new haiku each week. My first Saturday Haiku was in May of 2013. Though I have been posting haiku for ten months now, I am still a student of the art – which is why I was excited when I heard about a haiku workshop coming to my hometown.

The haiku workshop was held in Birmingham, Alabama last Saturday and was led by Terri French, who is Regional Coordinator for the Southeast Region of The Haiku Society of America. The workshop was hosted by the Birmingham Public Library as part of the city's Sakura Festival and lasted from 10:00 a.m. until noon. In that short time I learned how much I do not know about haiku. Indeed, much of the information that I shared last year from other sources on that original blog post about writing haiku was very basic and did not include later developments in the writing of English-language haiku.

The first surprise for me was that the “5 – 7 – 5” method for allotting syllables in the three lined poem is no longer considered the standard. In the Japanese language, on is the sound unit comparable to the English syllable.  However, in the English language, a seventeen syllable span is much longer than seventeen on  in the Japanese language. One source states that thinking in terms of 3 – 5 – 3 is more comparable to what the Japanese language does in 5 – 7 – 5. The Haiku Society of America considers that 12 syllables in English would be comparable to 17 in Japanese.

A Brief History

Ms. French gave a brief historical review of haiku, beginning with its origins in Japan. Matsu Basho, who lived from 1644 to 1694, is considered the father of haiku. Yosa Buson (1716 – 1784) was a painter as well as poet, and would sometimes combine a painted image with a haiku. From Buson’s influence came the “haiga” which is a combination of picture and haiku in which the image compliments (rather than illustrates) the poem. Kabayshi Issa (1763 – 1828) is considered to be the most beloved of haiku poets. Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703 – 1775) was a female haiku poet of some renown.  As the haiku continued to develop in Japan, Musaoka Shiki (1867 – 1902) elevated haiku to a literary status.

Haiku influenced several English language poets in the Imagist Movement before World War II. Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, and Amy Lowell are some of the writers associated with that movement whose poetry  was short and haiku-like.  In the post WWII period, Harold G. Henderson came to be considered the “godfather” of American haiku. He translated Japanese haiku for English-speaking audiences.

R.H. Blyth, who lived from 1898 to 1964, brought the Zen movement into the writing of haiku. Blyth influenced the Beat Poets and the Beat Poets in turn influenced American haiku. Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg, and Gary Snyder are examples of Beat poets who made use of haiku in their writing.

Terri French enlightened the workshop attendees with information about influential modern haiku poets. She made special mention of women pioneers in contemporary haiku including Jane Reichold, Alexis Rotella, and Anita Virgil. She told us about Nick Virgilio, a modern poet who greatly influenced contemporary haiku and who was a member of the Haiku Society of America. I did a little more research on line and found that, according to an article in Wikipedia, Virgilio “experimented with the haiku form, trying several innovations that were adopted by many other American haiku poets, including dropping the traditional 5-7-5 syllable count in favor of shorter forms. He included rhyme in his haiku along with the gritty reality of urban America.” The article further notes that Virgilio’s published collection of haiku “has been called one of the most influential single-author books in English-language haiku.”

What is Haiku?

The official definition of haiku used by the Haiku Society of America is, “A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition.”  

In the workshop, Ms. French elaborated on some aspects of haiku: 

• Japanese haiku makes use of kigo, the “season word” which identifies the season to which the poem relates
• There is the use of juxtaposition
• There is the use of kireji, the “cutting” word which in Japanese serves as a verbal punctuation
• There is the “aha moment,” or the epiphany of new realization 

In closing, she gave a few haiku “guidelines” (Ms. French does not like the term “rules” when it comes to haiku): 

• 17 or fewer syllables
• Three lines
• No rhyme
• No end punctuation
• There is no capitalization except for proper nouns
• Haiku are not titled
• No use of overt metaphor, simile, or personification
• Use concrete nouns rather than lots of adjectives to convey seasonal imagery
• Make use of comparison

The Take Away

In two short hours I learned much more about haiku than I ever knew before. In addition, we also had time for hands on practice in writing haiku. As a student of the art of haiku, I hope to carry some of my new knowledge into my own writing as I continue my weekly practice of haiku on the Saturday Haiku feature of this blog site. Rather than being forever wed to the 5 – 7 – 5 format, I will pay more attention to the spirit of haiku, trying to say more in fewer syllables. 

The primary corrections I will make in future haiku writing will be to eliminate punctuation, capitalization and overt use of metaphor. In one of my early haiku, I said that the thin crescent moon with its arc of light was “like a door ajar.” Ideally, I would have carried that imagery without the overt metaphor. I love metaphor and simile, but I will need to learn to restrict its use to poetic forms other than haiku. It may be that haiku will help me make better use of the concept of metaphor and simile without resorting to overt “like” or “as” phrases even in my other poetry.

I hope that interested readers will continue to follow my Saturday Haiku offerings, but more than that, I hope that more of you will take an interest in actually writing haiku. The purpose of my initial post in writing haiku last year was to encourage people who probably do not consider themselves to be “poets” to find in the haiku an accessible avenue for poetic expression.  As you may note, I have been writing haiku for almost a year with only a little bit of knowledge about the art. Even so, having the discipline of a very simple weekly practice has helped me to pay more attention to my surrounding world. I probably try for that “Zen approach” that Blyth introduced to American haiku, though it should be noted that haiku does not have to be about anything Zen. Having listened to an experienced teacher in Terri French, I am even more interested in pursuing the art.

For further reference: 

• The Haiku Society of America, “Official Definitions of Haiku and Related Terms at  http://www.hsa-haiku.org/archives/HSA_Definitions_2004.html#Haiku
• Graceguts, an  online journal by Michael Dylan Welch has a wealth of information, activities and opportunities regarding haiku and related poetic forms at http://www.graceguts.com 
• Modern Haiku, An Independent Journal of Haiku and Haiku Studies at http://www.modernhaiku.org/

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Picture: A portrait of the poet Basho, with his most famous poem "An old pond - a frog jumps in -" (c.1820) by Kinkoku, Yokoi (1761-1832)

Public Domain
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons


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