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Meg Waite Clayton

New York Times Bestselling Author

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April 9, 2013 By Meg Waite Clayton

Poetry Tuesday: Elizabeth Block

Elizabeth Block is a poets who has also received national writing awards for her fiction, including the Doris Roberts/William Goyen fellowship from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. She shares some thoughts on poetry today on 1st Books. – Meg
to the lighthouse“But I beneath a rougher sea”
Was leaning
The water sharply sliced, hypnotized
Foam into down
Cascades green bubbles
Treasure, all its sea within
The boat
In cataracts
This poem was inspired by one of my favorite novels, a poem itself, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It is also a poem from my forthcoming book of poetry, Celluloid Salutations (BlazeVOX: NY).
I don’t remember I time where I did not write poetry. From as early as high school I was receiving awards for my poetry and writing it saved me through the worst moments of my life.
Even though I have published an award winning novel (A Gesture Through Time), essays (including on Signet Classics: Penguin New American Library), art and book reviews, poems in journals, audio, film, and in writing for stage, I would say everything I write is poetic. My prose is, indeed, infused with poetry. I believe the best prose writing is poetic. My novel is also formed with poetry as a structure, and some would say it is a hybrid form of prose and poetry, but it does have a an accessible love story. I am really one who believes writing is best when genres are conflated, although I understand and love the discrete significance of each genre. I always return to poetry, as it has been my earliest form of creative expression. I only wish our society valued the long term effects of poetry on our culture. Increasingly, moreover, higher education devalues publication, and as a result only the elite have access and time to write and read contemporary poetry. I have no favorite genres of poetry. As long as poetry moves and makes one think, it has value and should not be ridiculed, by the public, educational structures, or poets alike. I hope we try to value many kinds of poetry and respect how much time and practice an author puts into her work. The rewards are endless. Likewise, children’s poetry/literature is invaluable as beautiful writing and, with its rhymes, is the best education in literacy for the young. Thank you for you kind reading. – Elizabeth

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Filed Under: Guest Authors, Poetry Tuesdays

Meg Waite Clayton

Meg Waite Clayton is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, a Jewish Book Award finalist based on the true story of the Kindertransport rescue of ten thousand children from Nazi-occupied Europe—and one brave woman who helped them escape. Her six prior novels include the Langum-Prize honored The Race for Paris and The Wednesday Sisters, one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time. A graduate of the University of Michigan and its law school, she has also written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, Runners World, and public radio, often on the subject of the particular challenges women face. megwaiteclayton.com

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