When I was studying Renaissance literature, the professor shared a few homage poems written by former students. I was immediately intrigued by the idea of reimagining the works of great writers like Shakespeare and Donne. So I set out to do just that.
After reading and re-reading Christopher Marlowe[......]
Category > The Poetry Bug
Paying Homage
National Limerick Day
May 12th is National Limerick Day, so I’m going to get into the spirit of things with a selection of my own attempts at the form.
Limericks are a relatively five-line simple form. The first, second and fifth lines are nine syllables each and rhyme with each other. Lines three and four are five[......]
Going Public – A Free-Writing Exercise
Free-writing is a great way to loosen up your writing inhibitions, simply because you have to tackle a specific task within a limited amount of time.
Here’s your assignment. Go to a public place where you can sit comfortably on the sidelines and watch people passing by. Pick one person out of [......]
Book Review – And This Was My Happy Ending by Kevin Staniec
The first time I read Kevin Staniec’s And This Was My Happy Ending, I didn’t think too much about mechanics and style. I just let myself get drawn into the story. I felt the words as much as read them.
Much of my reaction stems from Staniec’s skilful poetic craft. Rhymes are buried[......]
Flight of the Poetry Bug
April is National Poetry Month, so what better time to launch a new poetry column?
The Poetry Bug will deal with the mechanics of writing poetry and look at resources and markets for poets, but I also want to explore the human factor–the emotions that go into writing a poem, whether negative o[......]
