Showing posts with label makowski. Show all posts
Showing posts with label makowski. Show all posts
Monday, April 25, 2011
I wonder whether Steve Moss ever envisioned that his idea for the 55 word essay contest would ever take on such a life, or move into other venues of publication outside of his town of San Luis Obispo in California? In 1987, Steve invited people to submit 55 word essays to New Times, a local, independent weekly. The competition has turned into an annual event for the small paper.
Originally, the essays were collected and published by Steve, but since the onset of blogging, nanofiction has grown in popularity and abundance! Now Families, Systems, and Health has opened its doors to his new style of literature. Perhaps there might be a few submissions from our hospice and palliative medicine world?
Here is an example of one story:
Trouble on the Mountainside (from nanofiction - Andrew Looney) "Death!" Chris cried triumphantly. Flashlight beams danced together on the plastic floor as rain pattered lightly on the canvas above. "Death by Chocolate means I win!" Suddenly there were noises outside. Everyone froze. A face peers in through the flap. "Lights out was an hour ago," said the scoutmaster, "and... hey, Fluxx! Can I play?"
Families, Systems, and Health announces the continuation of its creative writing feature
to accompany the existing poetry column. Fifty-five word stories are brief pieces of
creative writing which use elements of poetry, prose, or both to encapsulate key experiences in health care. We are seeking submissions of 55-word stories to consider for
publication in the fall 2011 issue of Families, Systems, and Health. We will consider
pieces of exactly 55 words (excluding title) in poetry or prose style which give insight into
key moments of the healing arts.
to accompany the existing poetry column. Fifty-five word stories are brief pieces of
creative writing which use elements of poetry, prose, or both to encapsulate key experiences in health care. We are seeking submissions of 55-word stories to consider for
publication in the fall 2011 issue of Families, Systems, and Health. We will consider
pieces of exactly 55 words (excluding title) in poetry or prose style which give insight into
key moments of the healing arts.
Submissions for the column will be due by May 15, 2011. Please indicate “Fifty-five
word story” in the submission.
word story” in the submission.
Colleen T. Fogarty, MD, MSc; FSH Fifty-Five Word Story Editor
Carol Edelstein, MSW; FSH Poetry Editor
Colleen T. Fogarty, MD, MSc; Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Colleen T. Fogarty, MD, MSc; Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Monday, April 25, 2011 0
Sunday, January 9, 2011
This morning, as on many Sunday mornings, I listened to Krista Tippett's "Being" - today's show, "Words that Shimmer" which featured a discussion with Elizabeth Alexander on "what poetry works in us and in our children and why it may become more relavent in hard and complicated times." I could not wait to sit down, think about what I had heard, and share it with you. The entire show is worth listening to, but I'd like to hightlight the moments or words that caused the heart of this palliative care clinician to whorl and dance. 38:07 minutes into the show, Ms Alexander began to speak about the juxtaposition as a caregiver to her two babies and to her "very beloved mother-in-law" who was dying. She said,
"I came to learn what is means as a poet to be the person who can sit with those profound, profound, essential human experiences, and to let them happen, and to not fight them, and learn from them.
I never would have thought before that it was a privilege for someone to let you be intimate with them as they move towards dying.
But it was. And I think I understood that because I was having and raising these little babies."
Two poems then were shared - almost in tandem, bringing to light this theme:
Neonatology
"[...] birth is like jazz,
from silence and blood, silencethen everything,jazz."
and then Autumn Passage.
"On suffering, which is real.
On the mouth that never closes,the air that dries the mouth.On the miraculous dying body,its greens and purples. [...]"
The "scrim between life and death" - Ms. Alexander's words, and the continuum of legacy from mother to child to grandchild threads throughout the conversation. She leaves us with One week later in the strange - an incredible poem about ... well, what can happen after death.
In the expanding collection of poetry and humanities around this topic of life and death, meaning and suffering, Elizabeth Alexander's new book of poetry, Crave Radiance, is now on my "must own" list.
 | Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 Publisher: Graywolf Press Date: 2010 Language: English Available at: amazon.com graywolfpress.org |
Sunday, January 9, 2011 0
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