Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 6.08 Literature and Poetry
Presentation #1 Title
Many-Storied House: A Reading with Writing Model
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
While teaching workshops over the past few years, I have asked my students to write a poem based on memories rooted in a house where they have lived. The first step is to draw a floor plan. Working on the assignment myself, I began a personal journey, writing multiple poems set in multiple times for each room in the house where I grew up. The book begins with my grandfather building the house in 1941 and ends with my taking it apart after my mother’s death in 2009. In between is our family’s life. As the University Press of Kentucky catalog says, “the poems evoke more than just stock and stone, rooms and spaces; they explore the essence of memory and the mysteries of relationships as well as the innermost architecture of love, family, and community.” My hope is that readers will be called by their own memories as they encounter these poems, and I’ll share copies of the exercise so that they can try it for themselves and with their students. Except for my poem, “Where I’m From,” this writing model has generated more powerful wordsBio. than any approach I have used, and I want to pass it on
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Originally from Harlan County, Kentucky, George Ella Lyon is the author of forty-five books for readers of all ages. Many-Storied House (2013) is her fourth poetry collection.
Many-Storied House: A Reading with Writing Model
Harris Hall 130
While teaching workshops over the past few years, I have asked my students to write a poem based on memories rooted in a house where they have lived. The first step is to draw a floor plan. Working on the assignment myself, I began a personal journey, writing multiple poems set in multiple times for each room in the house where I grew up. The book begins with my grandfather building the house in 1941 and ends with my taking it apart after my mother’s death in 2009. In between is our family’s life. As the University Press of Kentucky catalog says, “the poems evoke more than just stock and stone, rooms and spaces; they explore the essence of memory and the mysteries of relationships as well as the innermost architecture of love, family, and community.” My hope is that readers will be called by their own memories as they encounter these poems, and I’ll share copies of the exercise so that they can try it for themselves and with their students. Except for my poem, “Where I’m From,” this writing model has generated more powerful wordsBio. than any approach I have used, and I want to pass it on
