Hard to know just what kind of stupid I was -- stupid for not knowing the rules or stupid for letting myself be so intimidated by the rules that I threw away 4 years of work -- although my mother just reminded me that it was 4 years of enjoyment. ... full post »
I keep coming back to Jack Kerouac for inspiration. He was kind of a Buddha for the Beat Generation (except that he, uh, drank himself to death at an early age... oops). He cultivated both spontaneity and craft. He became an icon to thousands of kids with... full post »
On a visit to the Detention Center, Martha Jean was reluctant to talk to me or even read some of her own poetic work. We talked about my favorite poem, Phenomenal Woman, and it turned out to be her favorite too. Her rendition of Maya Angelou's work ... full post »
Contribution made by Ryan Keesling, Director of the Creative Writing and Literacy Program at Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, and his students. Ryan's students are talented and exploring outlets to express and discover themselves. For more on th... full post »
