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calsfoundation@cals.org
calsfoundation@cals.org
Celebrate National Poetry Month with Us
April is National Poetry Month! There are all kinds of ways for you to celebrate poetry at CALS, whether you want to create your own and share it, hang out with other writers online, enter a contest and be part of a poetry publication, or take a quick break with our poetry readings on “Poetry Radio.”
Poetry can comfort us or give us freedom through our imaginations as we endure our global health crisis. People have known for centuries that writing eases the heart and helps us get through hard times. And spending time online with others who love poetic language can help us feel connected in a time when we’re physically apart. Lorrie Miller Rebenstorf participates in our CALS Writing Circle and sent us this comment:
“I have kept journals most of my life. I never in a million years thought I would be experiencing a pandemic in the United States! I haven’t even written about how this feels. . . I am just thrilled to have a friend who understands the heart of a writer.”
The CALS Writing Circle will be holding a prompt-driven poetry contest in April that is open to all. Daily prompts will be posted on the group Instagram and Facebook pages. As the month progresses, the moderators will select some of the submitted poems to be featured on those pages. After the contest, we’ll combine all the entries into an e-publication, and then we hope to create a print publication too! Sign up for the CALS Writing Circle email list here.
“I love all the info CALS Writing Circle shares!” – Jessica Halsey
The CALS Thompson Library has some wonderful plans to encourage poetry in many forms. Watch the Thompson Library Facebook page to share your favorite classic poems or create your own: writing, creations with craft supplies, drawings, readings, magnetic poetry screenshots, and other fun and creative forms will be welcomed.
Feel like taking a break to enjoy some quality poetry readings? It’s fun when people you know reveal their hidden talents! Check out Poetry Radio here on the CALS YouTube channel and dive in for one minute, or enjoy the whole list with meditative visuals and our thespian staff members channeling Whitman, Dickinson, Kipling, Yeats, and more.
Are you an artist, writer, or creative of any kind, or have you always dreamed of being one? Would you like a guided means of defeating your blocks and kickstarting your creativity? Find your community online and share in this virtual experience of Julia Cameron’s best-selling book, The Artist’s Way, led by Jobe. Class discussion will take place the Facebook group weekly, every Saturday 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. The course is intended to be taken for the full 13 weeks, 4/4 through 6/27. FREE but participants must join the Facebook group. The final chance to join is the second class meeting on 4/11, when all participants will discuss the first chapter and their “homework” for that chapter. For any questions on joining, please contact jjobe@cals.org
“Our writers have been an amazing community to work with. We’re coming from all different places for one common thing, and challenging each other to be better!” – Bekah Smith
