Kortney Garrison

Homeschooling With Ease

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Sabbath Rest

3 November 2019 by Kortney

“I want to consider what William Stafford’s daily writing pages contained and how they worked for him–
how something like his approach might work for any of us who choose to give such daily writing practice a try.”

Homeschooling and Working from Home

Each page begins with a date.

“Once I write the date on a piece of paper,” he said once, “I know I’m okay. I have made it to my writing.”

This is the “open sesame” move of the daily writing practice, for by jotting the date down on a page, you have accomplished the most difficult first step:

you have shown up and you have begun.

–Kim Stafford

Four Elements of a Daily Writing Page in William Stafford’s Practice

To see all the posts in the series Listening to My Life :: Homeschooling an MFA in Poetry, click here.

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How Poets Progress

2 November 2019 by Kortney

This was the title of a workshop last January at AWP in Portland and the subtitle of a book by Craig Morgan Teicher. I didn’t go to the workshop. Somehow just the title was enough for me to chew on. Enough to get me moving and thinking in the right direction.

If a poet is going to progress, it’s not enough to simply put in the hours. To show up at the page day after day till you’ve reached mastery. A writer needs not just vertical growth accumulating through time but also horizontal growth.

The work must deepen. But there’s no blueprint for this growth, no guaranteed path.

Just yesterday Jen mentioned that her writing comes in cycles. And last week Melissa shared how handwork is creating space to ponder creatively. I think following these hints and intimations is a part of the essential work we each must do if we are to progress.

I have been putting my hand to William Stafford’s four fold way of writing, trying to linger a bit like Melissa, past the dreams and dailiness that come, waiting for a phrase the carry my jottings closer to a poem. Like Jen, I’ve noticed that these daily ways of coming to the page shift over time and I’m trying to follow that thread.

To see all the posts in the series Listening to My Life :: Homeschooling an MFA in Poetry, click here.

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Listening to My Life :: Homeschooling an MFA in Poetry

1 November 2019 by Kortney

Last summer, my sweet friend Kara, got me a subscription to Cozy Blue Stitch Club. I love the designs that Liz creates and was so happy to know that new projects would be coming my way.

The last pattern to arrive was called Evening Walk–a field of wild grasses with a line of trees behind and flock of birds overhead. The scene looked so much like the view from our house across the river to the West Hills. I love the line of fir trees at the top of the ridge, and I knew those tiny blue birds were actually geese flying to the river.

A few years ago I came across an interview with the former poet laureate Ted Kooser. He talked about his daily writing routine. He comes to the page every day because “you got to be there when the geese come flyin’ in.”

That simple phrase has become a touchstone for me. A little nudge toward the work I want to be doing. I want to show up every day so that I’m ready when inspiration alights. In season and out of season.

From the bluff above the river where we live, we watch the geese flying over, hear their calls, and see the neat Vs come unraveled. And every time it’s a reminder of this work.

This month I’m going to be writing about my Homeschool MFA experience–what’s working and what I’ve learned in the first two years of this project. I’d love for you to join me. And do tell me what you are working on!

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Ursula on Her Birthday

21 October 2019 by Kortney

One of my favorite stories from the Desert Fathers is about the disciple who prays and fasts and wonders what more he must do. The abba lifts his hands in prayer. Each finger becomes a flame. He asks, Why not be totally changed into fire?

Image result for Ursula K. Le Guin literary arts

So Far So Good, Final Poems: 2014-2018 came out earlier this year from the good folks at Copper Canyon Press. The introductory note says that Ursula finished the revised manuscript on January 15, 2019. She would die seven days later. With this collection Ursula has turned into fire.

Each morning before the house wakes, I light candles and brew coffee and approach my notebook first with other people’s poems. I copy out by hand poems I love or want to learn or poems that have happened across my path.

This morning I started at the beginning of So Far So Good with the intention of getting all 66 down by hand.

https://opb.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/uklg19-ela-fantasy-video/ursula-le-guin/

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