Category Archives: Writing Challenges

Quillfyre’s #Oulipost 2 Lipogram

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Ouliposter-Badge-Plum-300x300Oulipost #2: Lipogram (Newspaper Titles)

A lipogram is a text that excludes one or more letters of the alphabet. The ingenuity demanded by the restriction varies in proportion to the frequency of the letter or letters excluded. For this initial exercise, you will compose a poem using only words that can be formed from letters that are NOT found in the title of your newspaper. For example, if you are working with the Washington Post, you must avoid using words that contain the letters A, G, H, I, N, O, P, S, T and W. Le-Lionnais-300x300

Why oh why, did I choose The Ottawa Citizen?  I have only one vowel, the u, available, and perhaps y.  Fortunately, one of the participants is a whiz at building word compiler tools, but not sure this prompt is workable with so few vowels. Need Christian Bök just now… However, I gave myself the luxury of titling without constraint

Senator Goes to Market

FUNDS!!!

Buy funds
Run up, up, up, up–

Surplus.

Surplus jump:
Run—
Up up up.
Fully fund
Duffy.

Carol A. Stephen

Sources:

SOURCES: Ottawa Citizen Digital April 2, 2014

  • Press, Jordan, Harper-appointed senator argues against his plan for elected chamber
  • Berthiaume, Lee & Press, Jordan, Investigation report clears Sen. Colin Kenny of harassment
  • Shecter, Barbara Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan posts first surplus in 10 years
  • Quebec’s forgotten region, By Ottawa Citizen Editorial, Ottawa Citizen

·         Reevely, David Provincial Tories blow lid off Liberals’ budget plans

 

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Quillfyre’s #Oulipost April 1, 2014

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Ouliposter-Badge-Plum-300x300Today is the first day of National Poetry Month, and of the Found Poetry Review’s Oulipost Project. To start, I’ve quoted the first blog post from the site here:

Oulipost begins today!

Queneau-300x300Every day this April, nearly 80 poets will write one poem per day by applying constrained writing techniques sourced from the Oulipo (Ouvroir de littérature potentielle — or “workshop of potential literature”) group to text sourced from their daily local newspaper. This is the first of thirty prompts in the Oulipost project.

Oulipost #1: Quote Cento

When composing a cento, poets take lines from existing poems (traditionally without any alterations) and patch them together to form a new poem. Today, create a cento using only quotes referenced in newspaper articles. For example, if a newspaper article contained the line “It was a tragedy,” commented Detective Smith, the line, “It was a tragedy,” would be available for you to use in your poem. While you can’t change anything within the quotes themselves, you may choose to break a longer quote in half or use just part of a quote as needed.

Variations:

  • Purist? Challenge yourself to write your cento using only complete quotes (sentences) as they appear in your articles.
  • Add an additional constraint by challenging yourself to use only quotes sourced from a single article, single newspaper page or single newspaper section.

So.  After spending three hours with my morning paper, I had chosen my quotes but to fit them together, allowed myself the option of being neither purist nor restricting to one article or section.  Here is my quote cent, with sources below. And yes, the title is a quote too:

“WHAT IS IT THAT WE ARE NOT DOING THEN?”

*
It’s been years since we’ve been this low
We’re just not achieving the results we need!
an enormous amount of cleaning to do

the spectre of reduced yields in key crops that feed humanity
He had no clue that his friend had gone to the dark side.
that’s part and parcel, goes with what happened.
The shock factor, the depressed, whatever state you want.

It’s everywhere you look, everywhere you go outside,
You could feel it a little bit.
But there is a sense of normal life.
Life for local people is going on.

All the shops are open.
People are walking in the streets
…some crops will do better.
Primary metals and oils and gas seem to be rebounding a bit.

These are tiny steps
there’s no experience like stepping into this ring and measuring yourself
I tried to come in with a smile

Carol A. Stephen
April 1, 2014

Sources quoted: All from Ottawa Citizen, April 1, 2014
• Kirkey, Sharon, Post Media News, Experts fear hospitals not clean enough A1 –A2, Zoutman, Dr. Dick
• Butler, Don C. difficile struggles continue A-2 Neill, Allison
• Weber, Bob Climate options melting away, A6, Smol, John, Pachauri, Rajendra
• Sylvester, Meggie The new language debate: Trudeau’s use of the F-bomb A-3, Trudeau, Justin
• Traikos, Michael, PostMedia News,The day the music stopped B6, Carlyle, Randy, Franson, Cody D’Amigo, Jerry
• Cobb, Chris, No clue friend had gone to dark side C1, Edelson, Michael
• Crawford, Bruce, Afghans upbeat, says U of O prof, Ottawa C1-C2, Banerjee, Ranjan
• Isfeld, Gordon Manufacturers hit higher gear, D1, Bill Ferreira

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My Writing Process – Blog Tour

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Friend and fellow Ottawa poet, Amanda Earl tagged me to participate in this blog tour, and I am always glad to do so!  Amanda’s contribution from Mar. 17 is located at The Literary  Blog of Amanda Earl. http://amandaearl.blogspot.ca/
***
There are four questions posed that I am to answer:
1) What am I working on?
Right now I am working on a chapbook of  triptych poems that link three ideas of images in some way.  I am also gearing up with the Oulipost project for April.  And I have a longer term  project of genealogical/family history based poems with a view to having a full collection.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
In the same way that each poet’s work is diiferent: the unique set of experiences and knowledge as well as our own curiosity. And in what might drive us to seek answers about why things are the way they are.
3) Why do I write what I do?
Sooner or later something in me is triggered and I must write. Compulsion, perhaps. But the what depends on what has taken my fancy, stirred that curiosity this time.
4) How does your writing process work?
When the words come effortlessly, it usually begins with a phrase that sticks in my head like a line from a song might.
Other times, I write from prompts, which is why I love to participate in NaPoWriMo through several different challenges.
***
Next week: Look for the blogs of Barbara Crary and Barb Huntington
Barbara Crary:
Barbara Crary left behind her former life as a school psychologist to become a part-time poet and full-time nana, among other things.   She is now hooked on poetry, lifelong learning, and her grandchildren, not necessarily in that order. Her blog is at http://smallstart2014.wordpress.com/
Barb Huntington:
Barbara Huntington was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Her grandmother left Pennsylvania in the early 1900’s at the age of 16, married a railroad man who was considerably older, and was widowed early with two small daughters.  Barb’s mother grew up loving New Mexico and, although she is a Californian, Barb continues to have New Mexico in her blood.  Barb’s father was an investigative reporter, the first civil rights editor on a major newspaper, and was head of public relations at Rand when the Ellsberg papers broke.  Barbara has taught almost all the grades between kindergarten and college, has a BS in Zoology from San Diego State University (SDSU) and an MBA from UCLA, ran Huntington Computing with her late husband, Fred, in the 80’s, has 4 children and 7 grandchildren, was a technical writer for Hughes Aircraft and a market analyst for Carter, Hawley, Hale Department Stores, ran the mentor program for the California Academy of Math and Science at Cal State Dominguez Hills and the McNair Scholars Program at SDSU.  She recently retired from the Directorship of the Preprofessional Health Advising Office at SDSU after 17 years.  She writes poetry, memoir, children’s books, and is writing a book about her students who overcame tremendous odds to become wonderful healers.  She has a new puppy and is looking forward to writing and traveling in her retirement. Barb will be blogging at http://barbarapoetry.wordpress.com/
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OULIPOST 2014 ASSIGNMENT #1 INTERVIEW

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Ouliposter-Badge-Plum-300x300For National Poetry Month, I usually participate in one or more challenges to write one poem a day for the entire month. This year, I asked to join the Found Poetry Review’s Oulipost Project, and was accepted as a participant.

Oulipo, for those not familiar with the term, stands for short for French: Ouvroir de littérature potentielle, founded in 1960 by a group primarily of French writers and mathematicians. From Wikipedia is this explanation of the term  (rough translation): “the seeking of new structures and patterns which may be used by writers in any way they enjoy.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo Oulipo writing uses existing forms of constraints, as well as creating new ones.

Over the month of April, we will be using a different constraint each day to create our poems, with all of our source material coming from daily newspapers.

For our first assignment, we have been asked to answer five interview questions. Here goes!

1. What excites you about Oulipost?

The opportunity it offers to push my boundaries. I often work in a rather safe little box.  Time to find what is on the other side of the walls!

2. What, if anything, scares you about Oulipost?

Of the 30 constraints we will use, I have used 7 of them before, heard of one other, and am completely mystified by the other 22. I hope I can keep up! Besides that, Found poetry scares me a bit because I am never quite sure whether I can later publish it or not. So I haven’t really tried.

3. Have you written experimental or found poetry before? If so, tell us about it.

I’ve enjoyed working with various constraints for my poems, especially through the prompts provided by the April writing challenges. Although I first encountered found poetry in 2006, in the last year or so I’ve used this technique much more frequently to create centos, for entries in the Geist Erasure Poetry contest and for assignments done as part of my online MOOC course, Modern & Contemporary American Poetry via UPenn. That introduced me to Dada poems, N+7, unoriginal writing, and other chance techniques as well as sound and visual poetry. I enjoy the challenge of working with these constraints. I’ve also managed a couple of good found poems from magazine articles.

4.  What newspaper will serve as your source text?

  I have set up a new subscription to the Ottawa Citizen beginning April 1st, just for this project.

5.  Who’s your spirit Oulipian?  

I am not yet familiar with the work of the group members, but I have used Tristan Tzara’s methods as well as Bernadette Mayer’s.  I find the work of Caroline Bergvall interesting too, and of course, being Canadian, Christian Bok, who gave us Eunoia. Over the next couple of weeks, I will do some research on Calvino, Le Lionnais, Queneau and Perec, with the idea of choosing one of them as my spirit Oulipian.

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Perec-300x300

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