|
What can I say... some pauses are
longer than others. With some regret I left Capitol Hill and
dedicated a year of my energy to one of my lesser (but for a
brief moment financially rewarding) passions, that of IT
Management at a resort hotel in Ojo Caliente, NM. It allowed me
to buy a house in a remote and stunningly beautiful area of
Northern New Mexico.
I
call my adobe home Nido del Cielo (Sky Nest). It's a writers'
dream, and the work it takes to subsist on the high desert keeps
me intimately connected with the earth, and rest of the solar
system. As a friend said, "The landscape in New Mexico is in the
sky." And being unsatisfied with only half of the day to enjoy
the heavens, I have now taken up amateur astronomy. Please come
for a star party and/or writing retreat.
What this has meant for Access
Idiom is that I have not been available for organizing and
developing discursive community on the Front Range. So AI
has been on "pause" for a year at the request of the other board
members. I was recently pleased to hear, and am happy to report,
that members and supporters of AI are rallying, and a
newly energetic and transcendent Access Idiom is emerging. We'll
keep you posted as its wings unfold and the new earth births a
new poetry community.
Stewart S.
Warren, poet, star gazer,
and Founder of Access Idiom.
"Though poetry is the art of connection, the
writing of it can be quite solitary. That's why, in part, it's so marvelous for
poets to gather at events such as these--to meet and to honor and to read. After
all, poetry is an aural and oral practice. But the real reason to come? It's
fun. "
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Poet Laureate, San Miguel County, CO |
Poetry
may well be headed toward a renaissance. Think about it. It is
everywhere. Adolescents and teenagers now breathe it in almost
daily through rap, rock and pop lyrics. Oftentimes we call it
Spoken Word to soften the less favorable implications associated
with formal poetry…but it is poetry – and it is everywhere.
Now
imagine if those of us who firmly believe in the healing or the
spiritual or the emotionally-satisfying aspects of
writing/sharing poetry all joined together to advance our common
interest in promoting this art form. Imagine what we might
accomplish. Just a thought.
Seth
Performance Artist and Author
Access Idiom Colorado Poetry Conference
- poetry
- expression
- dignity
- freedom
Mission Statement
Access Idiom, Inc. creates opportunities for collaboration,
education and artistic expression. Access Idiom, Inc.
empowers people with access to a broad scope of literary
culture, performing arts, and additional ongoing events, all
built on the foundation of the written and spoken word.
|
Some words from our friends about us, and about poetry.
There are many paths to poetry; some of us
come to it as children, courtesy of a bedtime reading by a
grandparent, others through teachers who bring it alive in
the classroom. Still others catch the energy of a
performance and are hooked. Some might find it in the quiet,
meditative state of their own minds, or hear its music in
the recitation of rituals, the voices of creatures, or the
hum of human activity all around them--things that draw
forth a response in words. This versatility in the sources
of poetry gives it such richness, such broad application, in
our lives.
Poetry
burns its blue flame in surprising places, rarely flaring up
in mass media or pop culture but never going out altogether.
Every so often the celebration of this ancient and vital art
brings people together around that flame, to enjoy its
diverse range of expression and renew the spirit of
cooperation, appreciation, and uninhibited expression. At
its best, such a celebration can give courage and pleasure
to all who participate, reminding each of us why we first
came to poetry, and why we keep coming back all our lives.
Chris Ransick Denver Poet Laureate author of Lost Songs & Last Chances
 |