A Writing Prompt and a Sweet Review of The Alchemist's Kitchen



Thank you to Midge Raymond for inviting me to guest blog at her dynamite blog: Remembering English. Recently, Midge invited many poets and fiction writers to provide a writing prompt complete with a who, what, why, and how. You can find prompts at Remembering English by Kelli Russell Agodon, Elizabeth Austen, and Wendy Call. Midge Raymond also has a new collection of short stories about to be published: Forgetting English. More on that soon!

Here is a preview of Midge's introduction to my writing prompt: Approaching Creative Research.


I love that Susan has chosen an exercise on interviewing — one of a writer’s greatest skills, right along with listening. Susan’s exercise is inspired in part by her interviews with new Somali citizens for the Somali Voices project (these poems appear in her second book, Cures Include Travel).
Enjoy — and don’t miss Susan’s lovely poem “Interview,” which appears after the exercise.
To read (and hopefully try) the writing prompt, Approaching Creative Research, click here


I think I'm writing my Thankful Thursday early because here is another thing I am thankful for. Thank you to Valparaiso Poetry Review  and poet reviewer  Rachel Dacus for a really thoughtful piece on The Alchemist's Kitchen. You can read the review here, but here's my favorite paragraph.

 Susan Rich is singing in a key of tenderness, humor, and indignation. Only a poet of skill and understanding can manage this diversity of topics with an artistic transcendence that weaves through daily life and history, whether touched by the terrible, the sublime, or the simply routine. These poems serve as invocations, conjurings, and ultimately as eloquent prayers, as the opening poem, “Different Places to Pray,” demonstrates -

And if you are still reading here is the web cam of the day -- I heard an NPR story about this eagle's nest at a raptor center in Iowa. The Decorah Eagle Cam provides an excellent view of the eagle and her babies. When I watched they were sleeping, but take a look here and see what's shaking in the nest. I feel sure this is a sign of spring. May it come soon to Seattle.

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