Dark Angels Note 152
Dearest Friends
Welcome back to our weekly Friday Note.
Observing
Earlier this week would have been the birthday of American poet and author Amy Clampitt (15 June 1920 – 10 September 1994).
Clampitt spent twenty years of her life writing novels, but her poetry debut, The sun underfoot among the sundews, in The New Yorker in 1978 was her first published work. She had enrolled into a poetry class the year earlier at the age of 57.
A total of 48 of her poems were published in The New Yorker during her lifetime. The second, The Kingfisher, became the title for her first book.
Reading
Jessica Piazza was the 26th writer to take part in The Amy Clampitt Residency Program.
From warming to the rural lifestyle at Clampitt’s former home, to reading her margin notes left in books around the house for future poets to ponder, read how the residency program helped Piazza to write Woman, 41, and work on other projects during her 6-month stay.
Read: Through residency, Amy Clampitt is ‘benevolent ghost’.
Writing
“Everybody has to write out of rage sometimes” – Amy Clampitt
If anything has made you mad recently, spend five minutes rage-journalling to get it off your chest.
When you read the passage back, are there any words or phrases that stand out? Pick them out and see if you can create some serenity from the madness.
Sharing
Keep sending us your poems, writings, links and writerly whatnots that you’d like to share with the wider Dark Angels family. We love to read them.
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Diary
Writing What We Hear, 8 September 2023
Join us for a one-day workshop in Highgate Woods to explore what it means to really listen, and to see how we can use whatever we hear as inspiration for writing.
Get your tickets here.
Weekly Tuesday Gatherings
There’s no Gathering next week. Back to normal the week after.
Join us for a reflective hour of reading, writing and communing led by Neil Baker. Everyone is welcome – from the Dark Angels community and beyond. We meet at 7pm UK time. To join us, click here on the night. There’s no need to register in advance.
Be well, keep reading, keep writing and know that we’re always here.
From everyone at Dark Angels