poetry workshop at Library

Poetry for Receptive Minds

Facilitator: Michael Fitzgerald-Clarke

During this workshop, participants will be gently guided through an appreciation
of two poems, with a view to learning techniques, such as evocative imagery,
use of sound, enjambment, symbols, and epigraphs that they will then use in
writing a sestina, a form of poem that originated in the 1100s and which enjoyed a
renaissance of interest in the twentieth century. The workshop will conclude with
hands-on advice on how to edit the poem.

Date: Sunday, February 26, 2012
Time: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Venue: Meeting Room, Aitkenvale library
Cost: A gold coin donation, please bring a plate to share for lunch
Please also bring a laptop if possible, if not, a pen and writing pad will suffice.

Wits member resumes Poet in Residence

Don't miss out this time......

Widely published poet and WITS member Michael Fitzgerald-Clarke will resume as the Poet in Residence for Townsville CityLibraries on Thursday, February 2 from 10:30 am to 12:30 am, at the Aitkenvale branch.  He will be there on Tuesdays and Thursdays for those hours for the next three months. Michael will be available to discuss anything pertaining to poetry, including offering advice, and if asked giving editing assistance, on poems people have written.  Please come and say hello, and avail yourself of Michael's expertise.

Poetry for Poets by M Fitzgerald-Clarke

this is an opportunity to get to know how poetry works, why it works and how to do it yourself. Michael F-Clarke has a black belt in poetry and this is a must for those wishing to rub shoulders with the master.... wax on ...wax off...
(apologies to the Kung fu kid)


This workshop will be in two, complementary, parts. Before lunch, we will discuss
several poems, with a view to learning some poetical techniques. After lunch,
everyone will be helped to write, then edit, their own poem, so that by the workshop’s
end, all present will have a finished poem.

Time: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Date: Sunday, February 26, 2012
Venue: Meeting room, Aitkenvale library

Cost: Free, bring a plate to share for lunch

RSVP to Michael Fitzgerald-Clarke on 0400330914
Bookings essential, enquiries welcome

Poet in Residence in Townsville.

MICHAEL FITZGERALD-CLARKE BEGINS AS THE RESIDENT POET AT THE AITKENVALE LIBRARY

On Thursday morning, 1 September 2011, WITS member and respected poet Michael Fitzgerald-Clarke had his first morning as Poet In Residence at the Aitkenvale library. Michael had barely sat down when he was approached by a library customer, and he spent the next seventy minutes or so in sometimes animated conversation with an inexperienced poet who was keen to discuss a draft of his first, to be self-published, book. Michael offered him advice and counselling on a variety of poetry-related matters, and at the end of it had a satisfied customer. A member of the library staff approached Michael after the man had gone, and thanked him for spending the time with him, as the regular staff didn't have that time available.

Poetry Tip: When drafting a poem, examine what Michael terms "potentially empty" words such as "that", "so", and "the" carefully, to see if they can be omitted without affecting the sense of the poem.

MICHAEL FITZGERALD-CLARKE HAS ANOTHER POEM PUBLISHED

Michael's lighthearted poem "Helen Marie Gunz; and Me" has recently appeared in the 1 September 2011 post of the American e-journal Dr. Hurley's Snake-Oil Cure (http://snakeoilcure.com/). The poem was in response to the journal's call for submissions on photos that appear in the Smithsonian Institution's public archive. The pic of Helen Marie Gunz (displayed with the poem) convinced Michael she might be the Ideal Woman...