December 5, 2009 Poetry workshops by Frances Payne Adler and Willa Schneberg, Corvallis, Oregon

The CALYX Workshops and readings on Saturday, December 5th were well attended and enjoyed by the participants. Eleven attendees for “Fire & Ink” heard Fran Adler describe several inspiring activist projects that either sprung from or resulted in poetry and image. She then challenged us to create a poem from a deep-seated concern. The shared poems ranged from hunger to abuse issues, to healthcare issues. Too quickly, the workshop itself was over, and attendees had the chance to buy Fran’s newest anthology “Fire & Ink” – it quickly sold out.

Frances Payne Adler giving "Fire & Ink" workshop

That afternoon, 13 attendees for Willa Schneberg’s “Dreaming the Poem” learned about how the unconscious can bring up images in dreams, how poets have used dream in various ways in their poetry, and how a poet can even use someone else’s dream to create an interesting poem. The attendees tried their hand at poems from selected anonymous dreams brought by Willa – the results were surprising. Several poets had the same dream, but created very different poems. Willa’s books were also available and popular with the attendees.

The evening reading showcased Willa and Fran’s poetry, in “Poems of Resistance and Resilience” – despite frigid weather, the audience proved that poetry is a draw in Corvallis. CALYX is very grateful to Willa and Fran for coming down from Portland to give these workshops and reading, and to Friends of the Corvallis Benton County Library, The Corvallis Arts Center, and the Benton County Cultural Coalition for sponsoring this event.