I was reading through a profile of playwright Suzan-Lori Parks in The New Yorker (Oct. 30 2006) last week, intrigued by the wit and intelligence and liveliness of her as a writer and observer of the human condition. (Parks once went to college in my part of Western Massachusetts, so I seem drawn to her name when she wins awards or takes on new projects).
At one point, she decided she would write one play every single day for a year.
“Sometimes, I would write in the security line at the airport, you know? …. A lot of them were written in hotels … I didn’t limit the time. I sat down and did it and then kind of went on with the day.” — Parks.
Now Parks is collaborating with some other folks to produce her plays on one day in different venues in the country. Wow!
It reminded me of another project I heard about, called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in which participants are invited to write an entire novel from start to finish during the month of November. I can’t possibly take that on right now but next year … I hope so.
BUT — what if I tried to write One Poem Every Month for One Year? (And call it OnPoEvMo? I kind of like that).
So that is what I am going to try to do, using this blog as my publishing platform for this very personal project. And it may be more than one poem … who knows? Plus, I intend to podcast my reading of the poems, and maybe a video here and there. I am going to try to dig at my life through poetry — as a teacher, as a parent, as a writer, as a musician — whatever the inspiration.
Now, let’s get started.
Peace,
Kevin