Conversant, too?

The occasional ramblings of a Columbus, Ohio poet.

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Location: Columbus, Ohio, United States

Rose M. Smith is a shy, quiet poet who's lived most of her life in Columbus, Ohio--a conversational voice heavily informed by human situations and emotion. Voted "poet most unlike herself at the mic," she has been known to silence an unruly room when her poems begin to speak. Her work has appeared in Chiron Review, The Iconoclast, Good Foot, Pavement Saw, Concrete Wolf, Boston Literary Magazine, The Examined Life, Main Street Rag, and The Pedestal Magazine, and other journals and anthologies. Rose reads throughout the midwest--she'll make a jaunt cross country if she's needed (you pay for it). She has been called "a quiet visionary spanning the worlds of performance poetry and literary print! challenging and enriching the norms of both. She is an associate editor at Pudding House Publications and author of Shooting the Strays (Pavement Saw Press, 2003) and A Woman You Know (Pudding House Publications, 2005) and is featured in the Poets' Greatest Hits collection now managed bt Kattywampus Press. Rose is a Cave Canem Fellow.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Foreign Tongues

Some days it seems no matter what one says someone will gather from it what they choose. A mouth becomes a loaded gun. Simple statements take on a caliber never intended or proclaimed. How does one translate intent into a language one has never been taught to speak? The everyman tongue. The dialect by which no person breathing might ever be offended?

How does one sing aloud a clear and honest note without being transcribed as an instrument intent upon proving only itself capable of music? Likewise our words are wrung, slung, compressed, repressed, distorted.

Take hold with me the glistening brass array of waiting horns. Hollow the reed. Let us find a mellow chord, teach our sounds to blend, and blending become one. Take the pick, drumstick, mallet or tongue, call together harmonies our tongues alone simply cannot speak. I have not learned yet this song that soothes all of the world to sleep. Who can know its verses? Who can understand its tone?

Take hold with me and let us sing it. Can you teach me the song?

Friday, January 20, 2006

Salon 2006 Registration Open


Pudding House Publications presents:

SALON 2006
Monthly read-around, feedback, critique.

Join us in 2006 as we continue to explore new approaches, new subjects, new avenues through which poetry can express the seemingly inexpressible. We will work on craft, presentation, voice and style, personna poems, poems of place, finding the central life of the poem, freewriting, seed poems, freeing yourself to deliver your art, and much, much more.

Second Saturday of each month, February-November 2006

Shaker Square Apartments Clubhouse
280 Barkley Place West
Whitehall, Ohio 43213

Cost: $40 per year (covers all sessions)

Workshop Facilitator: Rose M. Smith


To register: See instructions below.

Salon is an interactive poetry workshop
sponsored by Pudding House Publications

Where will WORDS take YOU in 2006 and beyond?


Rose M. Smith is a refreshing yet familiar voice in contemporary poetry. Accomplished on the page and a welcome critical ear at workshops, Rose and her poems take on a second life in live audience. She placed 13th in the nation among individually performing artists in 2005 and continues to captivate listeners throughout the midwest with her unique mix of craft and delivery. Rose is an Associate Editor at Pudding House Publications and author of Shooting the Strays (Pavement Saw Press, 2003) and A Woman You Know (Pudding House Publications, 2005).


How to Register:

If you have not attended Salon before, please mail the attached registration form along with a three or four poem writing sample to:

Rose M. Smith
PO Box 20689
Columbus OH 43220-0689

Include your $40 registration fee. Make checks payable to “Rose Smith.” If you need to use Visa or MasterCard, please contact Pudding House at 614-981-1881 to register by phone. Jennifer will need your name exactly as on card, credit card number, and expiration date. All credit card registrations will be handled by Pudding House.

Salon is a cooperative workshop for intermediate and advanced writers (exception is made for beginners of unusual promise) and sponsored by Pudding House Publications. If Salon appears not to be a good fit for you in the current phase of your writing experience, your full registration and poems will be returned to you.

Map of the Salon workshop location:

Since you're reading this online, use the Driving Directions function at www.mapquest.com to get directions to 280 Barkley Place West in Whitehall, Ohio. If you need help with this (after you've been accepted into Salon), please contact Rose at 614-284-7769.

At Hamilton Road & Shaker Square: Go east on Shaker Square into the apartment complex. The clubhouse is the large building in front of you at the entry stop sign. You may park in any parking spot that is marked with a “V” (for visitor).

If the majority of parking in the front of the complex appears to be full, additional parking is located in the northeast rear corner of the complex. (If this does not make sense or you have additional questions, please feel free to give Rose a call at 614-284-7769.)

What to Bring:

Always bring a writing tablet and your favorite type of pen for writing exercises or freewriting sessions. While each session will be different, you may want to take notes or respond to such writing impetus as occurs during the sessions.

If you have a poem or poems on which you’d like feedback from workshop attendees, please bring at least a dozen copies. If anticipated attendance per session increases, you will be notified prior to the sessions.

Participants are encouraged to bring individual poems to share with the group during our morning “read-around.” Morning read-arounds are a time of sharing. While immediate feedback may be given during this time, more critical feedback is provided during the afternoon intensive.

You are welcome to bring your lunch. There is a small kitchenette in the clubhouse.


Accommodations:

We’ll test the aesthetics in the first couple of sessions. Since the rental office (in the same building) will be open during our workshop sessions, there may be occasional background noise.

I am working on a way to have a viable sound system available.

~~~~~~~~~ (print the form below to register by mail) ~~~~~~~~



Salon 2006 Registration Form



Name:

Street Address:

City:

Phone (include area code):


Briefly describe your writing experience:






What do you hope to gain from your experience in Salon?






If you are a first-time participant, please include a three-poem or four-poem writing sample with your registration. If we feel Salon may not be a good fit for you at the current phase of your writing career, your application fee and sample will be returned.



Mail this form, along with $40 registration fee (this covers all sessions) to:

Rose M. Smith
PO Box 20689
Columbus OH 43220-0689

(Visa/MC registrations: Call Pudding House at 614-981-1881)

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Back in the Saddle

The season is rolling again at The Poetry Forum at Larry's. Monday night's feature was Stevi Meredith from Writer's Block. Nice job. The crowd was decent, and it was really a good night for poetry, both feature and open mic.

Next Monday night, Jerry Roscoe will grace the mic with his smooth offerings and unique sense of wit. Jerry will make the crowd chuckle and generally deliver an evening of masterfully written verse. Should be a good time.

I'm rolling forward again to finish up that CD before I travel to Detroit and Minneapolis in April. Chapbook sales of A Woman You Know are going really well. It's in second printing, and feedback has been great. I suppose I should have sent review copies to a few journals, but I sincerely didn't think about it at the time. Oh, well... one of these days I'll be a good marketer.