The Morning Reading:Poetry in the Mountains

Frances Dinkelspiel, on her excellent blog Ghost Word, writes about the recent poetry reading up here in Squaw. Dinkelspiel is a former participant in the nonfiction program at the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley and will return next year in 2009 as part of our published alumni reading series when her book, Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, is published. She attended the staff poetry reading last Thursday evening. Dean Young, C.D. Wright, Sharon Olds, Robert Hass and Lucille Clifton read. All agreed that it couldn't have been much better.


Poetry in the Mountains

Sorrow seemed to be the theme last week at a benefit for the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.

Five acclaimed poets read some of their work to a large and appreciative crowd at the ski resort nestled in a valley in the Sierra Nevada. It was the capstone to a week of workshops and lectures that brought together 60 emerging poets with an internationally-known faculty....

I only read poetry occasionally, but after hearing these poets (Dean Young and CD Wright also read) I know I have been missing something wonderful. I was fully engaged and delighted. It probably helps to have poets talk about how they came to write a particular poem, which these authors did.

The workshop for fiction, non-fiction and screenwriters begins August 2. There will be another benefit on August 3 where writers read short snippets from the work of Oakley Hall. This should be fun, as Hall has written more than 15 books, and the roster of talent at Squaw is always amazing. The readers could include novelists Amy Tan, Diane Johnson, Mark Childress, and others.

Te read the rest and peruse her blog, click here.

Posting on this blog will remain light until my return mid-August.