Pawpaw (the fruit, not the person)
Today my copy of Native Fruit: Poetry and Fine Art Inspired by the Pawpaw came, so I think we should do some writing about regional joys! In the anthology, edited by Athens, Ohio, Poet Laureate Stephanie Kendrick, you can find work by folks like Kari Gunter-Seymour, Wendy McVicker, Bonnie Proudfoot, Shei Sanchez, and many more…including me! I’m excited to have two of my poems, “Not All Pollinators Love Sweetness” and “I Scream, You Scream,” included in the anthology.
If you’re near Ohio September 13-15, you should stop by the Ohio Pawpaw Festival out to Lake Snowden in Albany! Folks will be reading from the anthology and there’s always a lot of good food and fun activities for all ages out at the festival.
The funniest thing about the poems I wrote for the anthology is that the two that were accepted were written fairly quickly. When I first saw the call for poems, I thought I could only submit one poem (because I didn’t read very closely!), so I worked diligently on a very heartfelt piece about the pawpaw trees that Ohio Pawpaw Festival founder Chris Chmiel gave my husband and I when we bought our house out near Guysville back in 2003. When I went to submit, I realized I could submit up to 3 poems, so thought “what the heck!” and wrote some cute fun ones. Guess what? Those are the ones that got accepted. It just goes to show that you never know. So, take all the chances, submit all the things. Other people may tell you “no,” but never tell yourself “no.”
Are you ready to write? Me too!
1) Set a timer for 10 minutes. Freewrite about a food that seems specific to the region you grew up in. You don’t have to do research or anything, if it feels regional to you, then for our purposes today it is. Remember, don’t let your editor voice get too loud. Keep it completely quiet if you can. Just write for the full 10 minutes. If you feel like you’ve run out of things to say, then write about not having anything to say until something else comes to you. Questions you might consider: What did the food taste like? Did you like it? When is the first time you had it? Keep that editor voice quiet, just let the words flow!
2) Set a timer for 10 minutes. Freewrite about the area you grew up in. Not necessarily the specific neighborhood, though if that’s what comes to you, go with it. I’m thinking more about the geographic region or state. What did people say about it when you were growing up? What do you say to people about it now? Do you like it? Hate it? Still live there? Never even give it a second thought nowadays? Remember, editor voice is still off.
3) Time to en-rhythm! I’m going to suggest the folk song “Way Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch,” . You can read it, or you can listen to it song by an Indiana singer, but whatever you do, just let yourself lean into the fun and sillineess. Or maybe there’s a song about a food that grows in the area you grew up and you’d rather use that. Do whatever feels perfect for you! Remember to set the timer for 10 minutes, that’s about 5 times through the pawpaw patch song. Stick with the same thing for all 10 minutes.
4) Time to draft! Set the timer for 10 minutes. Draft a poem, song, story, or essay about whatever is on your mind right now. If no ideas come to you, maybe write a song about the food you wrote about in part 1 of our freewriting. It doesn’t have to be positive. If you wrote about Jell-o salad and you hate Jell-o salad, go with that. It’s your song (or whatever you’re writing). Whatever you do with it, have some fun!
And there you go! 40 minutes and you’ve got a draft of something to revise this weekend or next week or the 12th of never!
Thanks for letting me stop by!