[caption id="attachment_324" align="alignnone" width="218"] *Spoiler Alert: A isn’t for Apple*[/caption]

Here’s of my favorite letters in the book (although I have several favorites, let’s be honest).  The story is titled “C: Cup in the Cupboard.”

[caption id="attachment_326" align="alignnone" width="224"] It’s all fun & games until you decide to go for it.[/caption]

As I was reading the book I couldn’t help but look at each story as a little poem because of the way the stories are framed as stanzas.  I’m not sure if Jeffers would call them stanzas, but it’s not a stretch to consider them as such.  While I typically try to get the most milage out of line breaks by pushing the line to its most dramatic potential (without being too dramatic) if you read this story/poem it’s pretty clear the lines are broken where it sounds natural, because the nature of of picture books are usually to be read aloud to children.  This really isn’t too far from poetry at all.

I could go on and on about why I consider picture books a super close relative to poetry, but I’d love to see what other people think about this!  Has anyone else thought these genres as being related?  Is there anything else about this mini story that captures your attention poetically/artistically?  I’d love to hear your comments!

The novel is considered YA fiction, and it’s a book that’s gotten a lot of hype and positive reviews.  So when I asked her if she liked it, she said she didn’t but that maybe I would because the style of writing was really unique–sort of prose and sort of poetry.  This piqued my curiosity so I took a peek at her copy and read the first chapter cringing at the abstract poetic language (which my friend had described as “flowery”).  Regardless of my feelings about the quality of the writing the book has been receiving very high praise.

So this all got me thinking: as writers how are we constricted by the genres we have created for ourselves; and in turn how can we break out of them?  To what extent can we even break out of them before our writing becomes a new genre?  Genre is built around a reader’s expectations.  We Were Liars is marketed as a YA fiction novel, yet a vast majority of it is written as a mix bag of prose and poetry.  What does it mean when these genres start to blend?

All this has be getting frustrated at the prose poem again. WHAT ARE YOU DOING PROSE POEM GOSH DARN IT I DON’T UNDERSTAND.  And it also makes me think of Katie’s issue distinguishing prose poems and lyric essays.  Is a prose poem just a poem because we decide it is?  I’m still figuring it all out.  While I don’t consider myself a “tidy” writer by any means I understand the want to read something that’s able to stay within the bounds of a genre.  But seeing how far we as writers can push past these boundaries is always more exciting.

So what do you all see as distinct qualities of the “genre” of poetry?  Have you read anything that totally and radically defies this?  I’m also really interested to know if anyone else has read We Were Liars and what they thought about the book.

Initially I was alarmed by the idea of […]

Being honest, I thought I was not the type of person who enjoyed attending readings–I didn’t know what to expect and I thought they would be awkward and stuffy.  I’m the type of person who likes to stay in my bed and eat an entire box of Oreos.  But since joining the creative writing scene here at Geneseo I’ve realized how important it is to push ourselves and do things we might not normally think we’d enjoy.

Since becoming a part of this writing community I’ve attended several a lot more readings than I ever expected.  I’ve attended ones the school has provided, as well as several in Rochester.  The most recent reading I attended was last Sunday for the BOA’s 17th Annual “Dine & Rhyme” event featuring Jillian Weise.  Going into the reading, and as is the case for most readings I go to, I didn’t know the poet.  In my last post I said readings are exciting because you never know what you might learn that you’re not expecting.  This reading was no exception.

Right off the bat, I was blown away by Weise’s humor.  She was self-depreciating and serious about not taking her poetry too seriously.  Humor is not something I ever include in my poetry, and yet for Weise it seemed natural.  I found the same to be true of the narrative quality to her poetry, and the casual pop culture/technology references like Skype calls and Bruce Springsteen.

Weise is a charismatic and funny speaker, and I found myself laughing more than I expected I would at a poetry reading, as she made her way through poems I was unfamiliar with, but ended up enjoying immensely.  That’s the beauty of poetry readings for me–they always feel like celebrations of poetry I end up admiring and learning from.

Weise’s poetry is funny, exciting, and rich.  If this has piqued anyone’s interest check out her collection The Book of Goodbyes.  If you missed the reading here’s a video of Weise reading three poems featured in her collection The Book of Goodbyes. Skip to 4:15 in the video and enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVfgFe5agNQ

So to sum this up: go out there and attend readings.  As writers we need to constantly push ourselves and get out of our comfort zones.  That varies from person to person, but Geneseo always has opportunities to listen to writers read and talk about their work.  Don’t forget to put yourself out there, ask questions, and keep an open mind–and at the end of the day you can go home and reward yourself with a box of Oreos.

I’ve been thinking about your comments for a while, and the similarity of Geneseo poets is something I too have thought about. There’s no sense denying that we all learn from each […]