D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
February 2012
Culture Connections
Put It in Writing
Local writing groups are creating a lively literary scene.
by Jim Kelly
"Talk's cheap," the old saying goes. If what you want to say is really important, put it in writing. Memorialize it.
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Members of a Silver City poetry-writers group gather to share their work. (Photos by Jim Kelly) |
Apparently a lot of people in the Silver City area take their writing to heart in a big way. A growing number of organized writing groups, each with its own purpose and its own direction, are meeting regularly in schools, homes and coffee shops. Their dedication to the written word may not always be motivated by desire for professional recognition, but it's obvious dedication just the same.
The writers' words are sometimes profound, sometimes profane, sometimes provocative. Sometimes their purpose is to get published, sometimes just to work out the kinks in their own personal lives.
Twice a month, as the winter sun is setting, just such a group meets in an out-of-the-way classroom on the WNMU campus. Their moderator is J.J. Wilson, WNMU's writer in residence, but this is not a writing class by any means.
"This is very deliberately not a class," Wilson emphasizes, "and in this setting, I'm not a teacher — no formal input."
The group is open to any and all writers from the community, and it has a regular core of eight or nine, who for the most part have never been published.
"At times, we've had as many as 11, with an age range from 11 to 85," Wilson continues, "I've even brought my own stuff, but so far there hasn't been time for me to share."
The body of the group is made up of people from many facets of the community. There are working university professors, students and just plain retired folks. Each gets a chance to share their work for five to seven minutes, following which the group observes one minute of silence for the other group members to get their comments together.
"We try to keep it positive, keep the comments constructive," Wilson says, "but sometimes the hardest part is when you can't think of something positive to say. It only happens very occasionally, but it does happen."
Short stories and poetry are the most common offerings by the group members, and Wilson notes that some of the writers are better readers than others. "We have one person who really dramatizes her reading well, and some others who are nervous about reading their work aloud," he says. "In addition, when a writer reads his or her work aloud, the listeners can miss nuances in the work that would otherwise work well if the listeners were actually reading the piece."
While Wilson stresses his role in the process is not one of "teacher," he is more than qualified to comment on the group's work. An award-winning author in both America and the UK, he encourages the group to focus on each other's comments, rather than on just his.
He adds, "This is an open-ended process, and we hope it continues for years to come. If individual writers want more feedback from me, they can email me and I will always respond."
Mark Chu is a WNMU professor who says he really benefits from the writing group. "Without the group structure, I would keep on making the same mistakes. Our leader is very supportive and knowledgeable," Chu notes. "Without him I think we would not know where to go with our work."
Chu is from Taiwan and has been published in Mandarin, both in nonfiction and, along with his wife, on an e-news website that at its peak had 40,000 subscribers. His ambition is to publish novels.
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Members of the “Hysterical Writers Association” are Frost McGahey, Jeannie Miller and Mary Hotvedt. |
Chu also says he benefits from the comments of his fellow writers. "I guess I have to swallow my pride sometimes, and it's really tough, but I believe there are no real overnight successes."
Hiram Lewis is an accomplished painter and another writer who benefits from the group setting. "The group gives me a bit of a reality check," he says. "Do they laugh? Do they roll their eyes? Groups also goose me into writing, and I'm also amazed at the talent and insecurity exhibited by group members."
In addition to his work with the Wilson group, Lewis has participated in a variety of classes, both online and in person.
"I took a four-session WILL [Western Institute for Lifelong Learning] course just over a year ago and my writing amused me," Lewis says. "I pursued it over the summer by finding a generous professor who read my stuff and asked for more. I took two fiction-writing classes and a memoir class online through WNMU and I'm taking another class this spring term."
As a painter, Lewis has already learned to deal with rejection. "I've never sent anything off to be accepted except paintings. I know the sneaky joy of hanging a piece and coming back to find it stored face-to-the-wall because it was deemed ‘inappropriate.' I know when my slides are rejected to note the judges and not try to work with them any more. I assume that writing is much like that, except the shipping is easier and cheaper."
Sharon Barr takes part in three writing groups: Wilson's fiction group, one short-story group and one poetry group.
"I'm a poet who has been writing poems since about 2000, not counting a poem every five years or so since adolescence. Two years ago I started writing short stories and memoir, as well, after I joined a fiction group," she says, "and I've had a few poems published in small academic journals. I've won the Ink Spot poetry prize in Las Cruces twice for poems in my category."
Barr is often surprised and fascinated to hear what others understand from her writing. "It's often not what I intended at all, but is its own creation," she says.
"I love being critiqued," she continues, "because I make egregious mistakes over and over which others spot immediately, but which I am blind to. The most important thing is that the group requires I put my butt in the chair and produce something for the next group meeting. For a lazy writer like me, that is invaluable."
Bonnie Buckley Maldonado had her fourth book of verse released last month by Wheatmark Press, and is one of the founding members of the local poetry group. (As evidence of the popularity of such groups, Maldonado's poetry group is full-up. In fact, some of the former members are in the process of organizing a spin-off group — and they're full-up, too.)
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The GilaWriters Expressive Writing Group| meets at Gila Regional Medical Center. |
"I believe my poetry is freer since I am no longer afraid to share it," Maldonado says. "It's honed to the essence in comparison to longer philosophical ramblings of the past. I believe the group experience has improved my writing."
Also a published poet, Janet Wallet-Ortiz says the group experience is invaluable. "Quantity, quality, scope!" she emphasizes. "My topics have become less about me and more about social justice and spiritual issues."
Ted Presler also shares the poetry/fiction connection, though he has most recently focused on his fiction. "It excites me. You can get away with a lot more in fiction," he remarks, "though I do still have sudden attacks of haiku, sometimes 10-20 of them at a time. It's like automatic writing."
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