The Ohio Poetry Association annual picnic will be held
on Saturday, July 18, at Jeffrey Park, Memorial Shelter, 1965 N. Parkview Ave., Bexley, Ohio 43209.
A short business meeting will be
conducted from 10:30 am - 11:30 am. The carry-in style picnic will be from noon
until 3. At 1 pm, poets Kerry Jensen Trautman, Steve Brightman, and Wendy
McVicker, as well as Student Voices winners and other special guests, will read
poetry. There is an open mic too, so bring a poem or two to share.
You won’t want to
miss the fellowship with other Ohio poets and the wonderful readings by featured poets. We’ve asked each of them to answer some questions about their
poetry so we could get to know them better. We’ve already shared responses
provided by Kerry Jensen Trautman and Steve Brightman. In this
post, we get a small glimpse into the poetry life of Wendy McVicker.
Do
you draw inspiration from other poetry? If so, whose and why?
Poets who inspire me include
William Stafford, for his plain language that expresses great depth, and for
his ideas on writing and teaching; Frank O’Hara, for his playfulness; Sharon
Olds, for her courage and ability to shine light in dark places; Anne Carson,
for her wide–ranging lyricism and attention to silence; lately, a local
(Columbus) voice, Hannah Stephenson, for eloquence and imagination. I’m always
discovering new loves!
What three words best describe your
own poetry?
lyrical; spare; mystery
Do you have a
writing routine? If so, describe it briefly.
Writing routine: Any time of the day or
night, read, draw, stare out the window, listen, and keep the notebook open … I
often pick up poetry or look at art before I write; this helps my mind move to
that place where poetry happens, away from organizing, opinionating, and
evaluating; a dreamier, more freewheeling place where I can surprise myself.
Aside from poetry,
what do you like to read?
What do I
read besides poetry: I am a fiction junkie!
What other
activities do you enjoy (e.g., art, cooking, music) that may/may not influence
your writing?
Other things
I like to do: I love to move! Walking, dancing, yoga, karate: all of these feed
the muse, one way or another.
***
Wendy McVicker is a Teaching Artist and Literature
Field Consultant for the Ohio Arts Council's Arts Learning program, and loves
to stir up poetry with people of all ages whenever and wherever she can. This
has included residencies in schools, libraries, arts centers, and hospitals.
Her poetry has appeared in online and in print, and in the anthologies Red
Thread, Gold Thread (ed. Alan Cohen) and A Ritual to Read Together: Poems in Conversation with William Stafford (ed. Becca J.R. Lachman).
Many of the poems in The Dancer’s Notes
came from phrases handed to McVicker by a dancer during a performance at Ohio
University in the mid–1990s, and others from watching, or collaborating with,
dancers and musicians. She performs with instrumentalist Emily Prince as the
duo another language altogether, often
in collaboration with dancers and other musicians. When not involved in poetry
and the performing arts, McVicker is teaching karate, which she has studied for
over 20 years. She lives in Athens, Ohio, and her family includes one husband,
two sons, and a Hemingway cat named Dora.
© The Ohio Poetry Association, 2015
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