Tag: poetry

Happy Birthday, Sylvia Plath

Published on by gilliampoet1 Comment

Alamy/BBC

The month of October (October 27) marks the birthday of Sylvia Plath, one of the most famous poets of the 20th century. Sylvia Plath is known for writing about deep feelings like sadness, frustration, and the search for who we really are. Her poems are powerful and still connect with readers today.

Who Was Sylvia Plath?

Even from a young age, Sylvia Plath loved to write. She was born in Boston, MA in 1932 and published her first poem when she was only eight years old. Major themes that appear in her poetry are how hard it can be to figure out who you are, mental illness, and what it’s like to be a woman in society.

She studied at Smith College and, later, Cambridge University in England. While at Cambridge, she met and married the poet Ted Hughes. Sylvia Plath faced many struggles in her personal life, and took her own life when she was only 30 years old. However, her writing has lived on, and she remains one of the most important poets of her time.

You can hear a brief interview with Sylvia Plath about her early influences here:

Sylvia Plath’s Powerful Poetry

I first read a poem by Sylvia Plath in high school for a Dual Enrollment English course. I’m fairly certain we read “Lady Lazarus” because I can recall discussing the pronunciation of the German words in the poem. I remember being amazed by her work and remember that it was the first time I really paid attention to the language in a poem. Her word choices were striking and she was the first poet whose work I sought to read outside of class. 

Plath’s poems often show strong emotions. She writes in a way that can feel personal and sometimes painful, but also very honest. She nearly lost her life multiple times before her death and discusses those experiences in one of her most famous poems, called “Lady Lazarus.” In this poem, Plath writes about feeling reborn, even after going through something difficult. Here’s a part of it:

“Out of the ash  
I rise with my red hair  
And I eat men like air.”

While most of the poem recounts her previous experiences with death, these lines show how strong and fierce she feels after going through those difficult times. She compares herself to a phoenix, a mythical bird that rises from the ashes.

Another well-known poem by Sylvia Plath is “Daddy.” In this poem, she talks about her feelings toward her father, who died when she was young. It’s full of anger and sadness. Here’s a line from that poem: 

“You stand at the blackboard, daddy,
In the picture I have of you,
A cleft in your chin instead of your foot
But no less a devil for that, no not
Any less the black man who

Bit my pretty red heart in two.
I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.”

Plath uses intense language to talk about how hard it was to live in the shadow of her father, but also the complicated feelings she has about him now that he’s dead.

These lines are just a small sample of Sylvia Plath’s ability to use words to explore complex feelings like despair, identity, and the search for meaning. Each one is a powerful reminder of her unique voice in literature.

Sylvia Plath also wrote a novel called “The Bell Jar” and her prose is just as lyrical as her poetry. In “The Bell Jar,” she writes:

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”

This quote is famous for capturing the feeling of simply being alive, despite the struggles that come with it. It’s a powerful reminder of existence itself, and, paired with her poem “Lady Lazarus,” shows you how much she needed to remind herself that she was still alive.

Why We Remember Sylvia Plath

On Sylvia Plath’s birthday, we honor her for the way she used her writing to express feelings that many people go through. She wasn’t afraid to write about things like sadness, anger, and the search for identity. Her work gives readers a window into the struggles of life, but also shows the beauty of using words to express those feelings. Her poetry continues to inspire people of all ages. Even though her life was short, her words continue to resonate with readers.

What do you think about Sylvia Plath’s poetry? Does it make you feel something special? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Bettmann / Getty Images

Exploring Horror Writing: A Q&A with R. David Fulcher

Published on by Nadja MarilLeave a comment

We learn from asking questions, and what better way to explore the craft of writing than through an engaging Q&A with an author! This month the author I’m interviewing is R. David Fulcher who happens to be a member of the Old Scratch Press Poetry and Short Form Collective.

R. David Fulcher is a talented author with multiple books to his name. His most recent work, a captivating short story collection titled THE PUMPKIN KING AND OTHER TALES OF TERROR, showcases his passion for storytelling. A writer of both poetry and prose, he deeply loves speculative fiction, particularly science fiction and horror. You can explore more of his work on his blog at Rdavidfulcher.com.

This is the perfect month—the season of ghosts and goblins—to delve into the exciting craft of writing horror. Most of my questions in this post will focus on the intriguing insights from THE PUMPKIN KING AND OTHER TALES OF TERROR. Let’s celebrate the art of writing together!

Q: Question

R: Response

R. David Fulcher

Q: As a writer, what is your primary goal when interacting with your readers?

R: As a horror writer, I have two primary goals: 1) Establish an “eerie” atmosphere; and 2) Elicit a physical response in the reader. Yes, I hope to stimulate the readers’ minds as well, but I primarily want to elicit fear – a racing pulse, the small hairs standing up on the back of your neck, a shiver in your spine – only good horror tales have this effect.

Q: Was there a specific moment you remember, perhaps an experience that spurred you on to want to write this particular book?

R: The Pumpkin King and Other Tales of Terror (and the follow-up volume “Asteroid 6 and Other Tales of Cosmic Horror”) is sort of a “greatest hits” collection of my short stories, so unlike a traditional novel the stories were developed over many years and inspired by many moments and experiences throughout my life.

To give a sense of the age of some of the stories, the title story “The Pumpkin King” first appeared in a small press magazine entitled Mausoleum back in 2001!  Of course, all the stories have been heavily revised in the new book.

To provide an experience that spurred me to write a particular story, “Castle Marienburg” was inspired by a tour of that very castle during a visit to Germany in college.

Q: As both a horror writer and a poet, how has Edgar Allen Poe influenced your work?

R: In a way, Edgar Allen Poe led me to my genre. My high school English teacher taught a semester on Poe, and I was hooked.  I started writing dark, gothic short stories that day after school and submitting them to small press magazines shortly thereafter.

Q: Writing poetry and writing prose, how has the two different types of genres influenced each other in your writing?

R: My love for both poetry and prose has caused me to experiment with inserting sequences of poetry into my fiction.  Some examples of my stories that include embedded poems are “A Night Out with Mr. Bones”, “The Faerie Lights”, and “All Across the Mountain”.

Q: Did you work alone or did you rely on some feedback from others?

R: I initially write on my own, but I really enjoy it when people close to me review my work and give feedback on it.  For example, my brother Dale helped proofread the manuscript for The Pumpkin King and Other Tales of Terror, and after reading my short story “Asteroid 6” my wife Lisa was really impressed with the tale, so I was inspired to title my second volume coming out this Fall as “Asteroid 6 and Other Tales of Cosmic Horror”.

Of course, my publishers David and Dianne are also tremendous editors and their feedback has been essential to my work.

Q:Do you imagine you are writing for a specific person or a certain audience?

R: No specific audience. I will say that my writing is almost always in the realm of the fantastic, so fans of my work must be able to “suspend their disbelief” and just go along for the ride, trusting me to take them to a magical, almost unbelievable ending, even if all the facts don’t line up with reality. I think fans of hard science-fiction (Isaac Asimov, etc.) will have a hard time enjoying my work.

Q: How do you approach revision?

R:This goes back to things I’d tell my former self.  I used to put down the pen (yes, I write my stories out long-hand!) after a long, intense burst of writing (sometimes an entire story in a single sitting), push the manuscript back on the desk with a smile, and say “Perfect!”

I would then immediately submit the tale for publication, only to receive rejection after rejection, never understanding why.

I’ve finally learned that being a professional writer means spending almost twice the amount of time revising your work as you spent writing it in the first place.  So I approach it like work. I allocate time for editing/proofreading, I set deadlines, and I hold myself to them. The difference between my original manuscript written after a burst of artistic inspiration and the manuscript after several rounds of revision is often night and day.

Q: If you could give advice to your younger self, what would you want to tell them?

R: I’d remind my younger self that the success of a book is up to me. I used to self-publish with AuthorHouse (formerly 1st Books) and believed that getting my book on Amazon and buying the publisher’s “marketing kit” would instantly propel me to fame and the bestseller’s list.  I have learned the hard way over the years this is not the case. Publishing the book is just Step 1.  The real work is in the marking and promotion.

Q: How did you find your publisher or did they find you?

R: David and Dianne of Devil’s Party Press (now Current Words Publishing) met at the Indie Lit Fest at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD.  At the time they were accepting submissions for one of their Halloween Party anthologies and provided me with the information.  I submitted and was accepted. The rest as they say is history! 

Q: Do you have a specific horror story favorite you’ve read?

R: Several novels by modern horror writers have had a tremendous influence on my writing.  They include “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury, “The Tommyknockers” by Stephen King, and “HIdeaway” by Dean Koontz.

In your own portfolio, a story you are particularly proud of?

R: I have a few favorites among my stories that don’t always correlate to fan favorites.  The first is “Castle Marienburg”, which was originally titled “Eyes in the Night”. A horror editor in the small press called it one of the best horror stories he had ever read, which was very satisfying. Others include “Spectra’s Masterpiece”, a science fiction story about AI published back in the early 2000’s well before AI became a commonplace topic, and “The Land Spider” in the way that it incorporates native American mythology.

Q: Do you have a “day job” to help pay for your writing habit, and it so, has it impacted in any way your writing?

R: During my day job I work as an IT Contractor.  My work with computers has spilled into my fiction with my stories “ELECTRIC”, where a boy becomes one with his home computer, and “The Witch Toaster,” where a group of programmers within an IT Department must battle supernatural forces.

Thank you for reading and visit the Old Scratch Press Website to learn more about our authors and upcoming publications.

Breaking Through

Published on by Ellis Elliott2 Comments

Strategies for Overcoming Creative Blocks

Creative blocks can be frustrating, but they’re a normal part of the creative process. Here, I explore three common types of creative blocks that I experience on a regular basis, and share my strategies to overcome them and get back into my creative flow.

Common Types of Creative Blocks:

  • Self-Doubt: Feeling like your work isn’t good enough? That would be a hard yes for me, every single day. Self-doubt can paralyze creativity. Who am I to go to grad school in writing at my age? Who am I to publish a poetry book? Who am I to think I can even begin to write a mystery novel? Remember, while there are plenty of success stories out there, we won’t know our own abilities unless we give it a try. You might decide it’s not your thing, or get caught up in the process and ride the wave to the end. By all means, do not compare yourself to others, unless you think it’s really bad, in which case the thought should be, “I can do this, but better”. It really doesn’t matter what you think until you actually start something. Like the curling sticky note on my desk says: Begin.
  • Perfectionism: Waiting for the perfect idea or execution can stop you in your tracks. As will waiting for the perfect time, or the perfect desk chair, or external motivation. Embrace imperfection and focus on progress rather than perfection. It’s called a “shitty first draft” for a reason.
  • Burnout: Sometimes, the creative well runs dry. Recognize when you need rest and allow yourself to recharge (see below).

Strategies to Overcome Blocks:

  • Change of Scenery: Sometimes a change of scenery can spark new ideas. Go for a walk, visit a museum, or simply move to a different room. Move your body, listen to music, or anything to temporarily switch off the “I’m Stuck” reel playing in your head.
  • Experiment with PLAY: This is my favorite. Take a break from your current project and try something completely different—doodle, cook, or build with LEGOS. I like to cut and paste, myself. Play can reignite creativity.
  • Set Bite-Size Goals: Break down your project into manageable tasks, i.e. Write for 10 minutes. Completing small steps can build momentum and reduce overwhelm.

“Creative Reset”: Set a timer for 15 minutes and engage in a creative activity unrelated to your current project. The goal is to refresh your mind and relieve pressure, allowing creativity to flow more freely when you return to your work.

Finally, I once had a teacher who said there was no such thing as a creative block, and the problem was not that there was nothing to draw from, but that there was too much. Too much, or not enough? You decide.

Ellis Elliott

Ellis Elliott

Ellis Elliott is a published author and poet. Join her Bewilderness Writing Workshops and use free writing to find yourself and your voice on the page. Order her poetry collection Break in the Field and find out about her Work-in-Progress, a mystery novel set in the misty mountains of Appalachia.

Authors Electric Interview with Nadja Maril

Published on by diannePLeave a comment

This week author Nadja Maril released her collection of flash prose, poetry, and essays inspired by her kitchen, garden, and family memories. I sat down with Nadja to ask her some questions about the book, and her process. It’s interesting to note that Nadja comes from an artistic background: her late father Herman Maril was an artist, and his painting is the cover of her book. I have enjoyed Nadja’s poetry and flash fiction for many years now, and I am very excited for her book!

Dianne Pearce (Dianne): What inspired you to combine poetry, short form, gardening, and cooking in one book? How did these different forms of expression come together?


Nadja Maril (Nadja): In January 2020 I’d just completed an MFA (masters in fine arts) in creative writing from the low residency Stonecoast Writing Program at the University of Southern Maine and was in the midst of moving into a 100-year-old house. My husband Peter and I were the General Contractors. Both the MFA and the house were two-year projects. I’d been laboring over a complicated literary novel told from multiple viewpoints, and my daughter (the youngest of my three children ) was about to get married. Peter and I were looking forward to having the wedding at our re-built house, with the festivities primarily outside. We scurried to move into the house, plant flowers and shrubs, and revitalize the lawn. Then the pandemic shut everything down. 

Want to read more? Pick up the remainder of the piece at AUTHORS ELECTRIC.

Google Doodle Celebrates Dorothy Miles

Published on by dianneP1 Comment
Click on photo to visit the Google Doodle page

Wonderful that Google has dedicated today’s Google Doodle (August 19, 2024) to Dorothy Miles.

Miles, as it says, was a pioneer of poetry in sign language. This is significant because poetry is often still widely considered to be an oral form of creative writing, written down, yes, but meant to be read aloud, or memorized and recited, performed. But can it be performed and not be spoken?

Here are a few performances by Ms. Miles, courtesy of YouTube:

There is no sound. Can you understand the poem?

And here is a third poem:

Do Miles’ poems speak to you, without use of the voice? In a medium that began as fully performative, how does it feel to have to attend to her movements with your eyes, more than her words, the sound of them, with your ears? Are the poems lost on you? Or do they move you? 

Approximately eleven million Americans are deaf, and many more have some form of hearing loss. When I watch Ms. Miles perform her poetry, one thing that struck me immediately was the feeling of being disconnected, because I could not hear her, though she looked to be speaking. Once I settled in I found the works engaging, and they really tapped into my emotions much more quickly than poetry usually does.

What makes a poem a poem? What does it mean to be a poet? Poetry has been one of the oldest and most consistently practiced form of creative writing, and it has also been some of the most exclusionary. Ms. Miles opened that door for people who could not use their ears to enjoy poetry, or their mouths to speak their poems aloud.

Ms. Miles’ career in poetry ended when her life did, after a fall from a window that was concluded to be self-inflicted due to mental health challenges she was experiencing. If you know someone experiencing a crisis please consider using the 988 helpline.

This, my friends, is why diversity is so important. Without an open system that welcomes diversity, without open hearts to give something different from the “norm,” “average,” what we’re used to, what’s traditional, or simply what we’ve come to expect, we close the door on beautiful experiences like poetry written and performed by Ms. Miles. When we celebrate poetry in all its forms, we invite more people to have the chance to share with us their creations. Not every creation is the right one for every person, but when you find the one that touches you, you will find yourself forever changed.

Thank you, Dorothy Miles, for your poetry.

The Power of Poetry Workshops

Published on by virginiawattsLeave a comment

By Virginia Watts ( a member of the Old Scratch Press Collective)

Several years ago, I was in an online poetry workshop with a woman called Joan. Even seated far away from each other in the real world and only together in the great, cold world of the internet, I felt a connection to her. What was it exactly. Her beautiful, novel, highly creative, arresting, heart rendered poetry for sure, but it was more than that. I appreciated how much thought she put into her critique of the other poetry in the group. I could tell she had taken a great deal of time to read and reread, to think and rethink, as I do when I am involved in writing critique groups, and I have and am a part of quite a few of those. I take my role as a fellow writer offering critique very seriously. Here’s the thing. No one can critique their own writing. It’s impossible. What you need to be the best you can be as a writer are fellow writers who give it their all when reading your work. People who are willing to always comment honestly on the work you circulate. In other works, you need people like Joan.

            So, imagine how thrilled I was when Joan emailed me after the online workshop ended to see if I would be interested in joining a Sunday morning critique group of six other poets. I couldn’t say yes fast enough and that started years of the best morning of the week on my calendar. We are a group of diverse styles living in different east coast states. Currently four men and four woman because another has joined our group. Each Sunday, we take turns reading our draft poem and then the floor opens up to comments. Titles that don’t do enough work are called out. Areas that are confusing, messages that seem weak or not fully realized. How the poem looks on the page. Whole stanzas that sometimes just don’t need to be there. All things poetry and how to make it better. Every single Sunday I sign off and look at my poem as revised by the group and think. There is absolutely no way I could have written this poem in the final best form it can be without them.

            A few years ago, the group put together a cooperative collection of poems available on Amazon called Poems from the Circle of Seven. A Sampler to Savor. One of the members’ sons kindly assisted us with our cover art which turned out beautifully. It was special and moving to see ourselves all together on the page inside the cover of one unified book.  Special because something special happens every Sunday morning that I don’t think we can explain exactly. Call it chemistry. Call if magic. We have eight now, so I am sure at some point we’ll put together another collection.

            And of course, while our writing brings us together, something we all care about, love to do and literally need in our lives, now we have a group friendship too. I can speak for myself in saying that less than a year ago I had open heart surgery and seeing the faces and hearing the words of encouragement before and after as I recovered meant a great deal to me. One of our members has a seriously ill spouse and we all grieve this. One has been going through the process of retiring and moving. On the flipside we have shared countless laughs about the ups and downs of real life. We have also heard about great adventures. Recently one member went skydiving. That made for an unforgettable poem. So, to writers everywhere, if you have the chance and are lucky enough to enter a circle of fellow writers sprint there and take your seat. It will uplift you and bring the greatest joy to your writing process.

Would Love To Hear From You

Published on by diannePLeave a comment

It’s the “dog days of summer.” Where I live we’ve had only brief periods of respite from the extra hot days, and these sweaty days force me inside, where they, ostensibly, give me more time to write.
And so I am thinking about all of that. And I’m wondering, those of you who write, have you ever considered taking classes, or have you taken classes, in writing? It occurs to me that while my daughter can play a few songs on the piano through trial and error, she is much better when she is actively taking lessons. She doesn’t take lessons because she wishes to be the next piano great, or even play professionally. She takes lessons because she enjoys playing the piano, and would like to be able to play it better. I pay for the lessons gladly, without a thought about it.
Do we do that as writers, with writing?

When I went back to school to get my MA it was because I wanted to get better at writing. Yes, I had the hope of publishing, but mostly I just wanted to be better at writing my stories and poems. I signed on for my MFA primarily because the teachers in my MA program, who were not affiliated with the MFA schools, suggested that I had a spark, and could get it even sparkier with more training. And so I did it, the MFA, for me.

When we had our book marketing webinar a week or so ago speaker Jared Kuritz suggested that if someone wants to be a published author that author must go from hobbyist to professional, and that would involve a dedication of time, and some allocation of funds.

I am curious and would love to hear what you think about this. Have you ever done any “professional” training for writing? Something like lessons? Have you spent money on your development? Do you hope to move from hobbyist to pro? Or, perhaps, consider and reply to this by telling me about lessons that you have taken in something else, or paid for in order that a child or someone else in your life is able to take lessons. I would be very curious to hear what you think makes something a skill that you might need training in versus something you come fully equipped for, without training.

I’m laughing to myself now, sitting here, thinking about “the dog days of summer,” and how I once paid for dog training for my prior delightful pup, an out-of-control terrier who I’d adopted when he was still a puppy. I had named him Chad,

and he came after I lost the dog who preceded him, a very fancy little terrier named BeBe who walked beside me like a queen, and never needed a leash or a single command, from the moment I brought her home. Chad, on the other hand, chewed everything: my toes as I crossed the room, my ears as I sat on the sofa or lay in bed, my boyfriend’s brand new Nikes, huge holes in his blanket, and he pooped blue wool for a week after, half a wooden magazine rack while I was at work one day, scads of toilet paper rolls. He peed everywhere. There was a moment where I listened to him cry from behind the baby gate in the kitchen thinking, “One of us is not going to make it out of this relationship.” I found a dog trainer all right. I could not wait for her to get to my house! And I remember her like it was yesterday, though it was more likely 2001, when she arrived, and I let the beast loose on her, and she said to me, “Okay. I can see he has a lot of energy. Let’s start training you to be a better owner.” 
By the end of the session, several hours later, I admit, for I was a slow learner, I was fully trained, and Chad and I lived harmoniously from that moment on, for sixteen and a half years.

And just now, as I prepared to publish this post, I thought to myself, Maybe throw this post in Word and check the spelling, even though I know my writing does not need it! But I did, and I found four spelling errors, due to poor typing skills, which tells me that it seems that I am still, to this day, a stubborn and slow learner. 😉

So what about you? Do you train at writing at all? Are there other things you will use training for? Do you think of writing as something a person can improve at with training? I am curious to see if it is only me.

Happy Book-a-versary to Ellis Elliott!

Published on by diannePLeave a comment

It’s just about one year since Ellis’ book, the first Old Scratch Press book, was released.

Here are a few poems for you to dip your toes into:

Gosh, this is such a lovely collection. And right now it is FREE for the month of July, 2024!

Get your free copy (eBook, or audiobook) HERE.

Congratulations Ellis on one year! And thanks for all your contributions to Old Scratch Press.

Follow Ellis