The Mad Poets Blog

Amy E. Laub’s poetry is pretty much autobiographical and consists primarily of portraits, landscapes, news, and gossip drawn from her own life.  She is a long-time member of the Mad Poets Society (MPS) and since September 2003 has hosted the monthly MPS Critique Circle on first Wednesdays at Harvest Books, Media, PA.  Amy works full-time as an Administrative Secretary for the Literacy Supervisor of a local public school district, and lives in Upper Darby. She has read her poetry at numerous venues across the Delaware Valley. Amy is currently working on two manuscripts and will coordinate a second weekly Mad Poets Critique Circle in Wallingford Pennsylvania. Her energy is contagious and her love of poetry has no bounds. To learn more about the Poetry Critique Circles coordinated by Amy Laub please visit www.madpoetssociety.com  

THE INTERVIEW: 

Q.  You are the host of the Poetry Critique Circle held at Harvest Books in Media, PA.  The Circle is one of the anchors of Mad Poets events over the last few years. To what do you attribute the success of the circle?

 A. The Circle works because the members treat each other with respect and are truly constructive with their comments.  There are no insults – verbal or otherwise – or nastiness of any sort.  No one monopolizes the discussion, everyone gets a chance to speak.  We enjoy each other’s company and find plenty to laugh about together. 

Q.  What motivated you to host the Poetry Circle ?

A.  Oh, good, an easy question!  The Director of the Mad Poets Society, Eileen D’Angelo, asked me to host this event to reduce her enormous work load.  At first I was shocked by her request, then honored by her trust, and immediately realized that I absolutely wanted to do it.  I love this job!  I can’t wait for first Wednesdays to roll around! 

Q. How valuable is it to poets, both emerging and established, to receive feedback and critique of their work in a forum such as the Poetry Circle?

 A. It is HUGE!  Every writer needs an audience, and we are usually each other’s first audience.  Other people can notice the flaws we have become deaf and blind to in our own writing.  We tweak each other’s work – we provide synonyms, suggest alternate titles, re-arrange words and stanzas,  break lines in new places, spot repetitions and clichés, change tenses, and try out new punctuation and capitalization.    We debate – and frequently have to agree to disagree.  Sometimes we decide that a single poem is really two separate poems, or that a particular piece is skimpy and needs fleshing out.  We ask about the origins of some poems. We ask what foreign words and phrases mean.  We go off on tangents as often and as far as time permits.  Many times we don’t change a single thing in a poem – just reassure a nervous writer that s/he has created something wonderful and worthwhile. At poetry readings, most poets read their poems MUCH too quickly.  Most poems are hard to “get” with just one reading.  At a Critique Circle , you can read the poem while you hear it being read out loud.  You can hear it again if you like, talk about it, and talk to the poet.  There is nothing else like it! 

Q.  What can a first time attendee expect upon attending the poetry circle?

A.  We love new people!  If you have never been to a Circle, please be brave and try one.  There are usually six to eight people at any one meeting, and we literally sit in a circle of folding chairs in the middle of the book store.   Introductions are first, then we exchange copies of poems and read them out loud one by one. Sometimes a poem is read more than once.  New people never have to read first – they go third or fourth or fifth so they have a chance to see how we operate.  If a newcomer would prefer to just sit and listen on their first visit, that’s cool, too. 

Q. If you had a choice of five poets, living or dead, to attend your circle who would you like to have in attendance and why?

A.  Billy Collins, a past US Poet Laureate, because I love his humor.  One of his poems worries about mice in the walls that MIGHT pick up a kitchen match and MIGHT set the house on fire.  He has another poem about a song stuck in his head, so of course it gets stuck in the reader’s head, too.  Hilarious!  I like poems that make me laugh and try to write them.  There is nothing better than a room full of people laughing with delight at something you wrote. Sharon Black, an utterly amazing local poet with the freshest voice and perspective I have ever heard.   She attends some Circles, so come out and hear her stuff.  Laurie Anderson, a dazzling performance and visual artist, musician, and storyteller, who often takes trite phrases and alters them just enough to wake you up:  “Lights! Camera!  Action!  Timber!!!”  There is too much to say about her, so I won’t try to do it here. Joel Weishaus, who wrote my all-time favorite poem, “Empty bench. Rain sits down.”   And Patty Larkin, one of many folk musicians and singer-songwriters I listen to, usually on 88.5 WXPN FM.  Whenever I get too uptight about things, I remember her line, “You’re living your life like you’re doing time” and I try to adjust.  Other singer-songwriters include Paul Simon, Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Dave Carter, Tracy Grammer, Shawn Colvin, Michelle Shocked, Christine Lavin, Laura Love, Louden Wainwright the Third… sorry, I sneaked in a few other people, but I just can’t help myself where these people are concerned.

 Q.  Harvest Books provides the venue for the Circle.  Could you describe why the store is unique and why literature lovers of any genre should stop by the store?

A.  Jim Pierson, the proprietor, is a warm, welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable guy.  He lets the Mad Poets use the space at no charge, and stays open late just for us, even when he has the flu – thanks, Jim!    The walls are painted a warm, substantial shade of yellow and it’s well lit.  A big picture window lets you look out on all of downtown Media strolling by.  There’s always good music playing softly in the background.  Books and CDs and videos are everywhere – and easy to get to in boxes and on bookshelves tidy enough to suit even my compulsive heart.  It’s small enough to scan all of the titles in stock, and large enough to feel spacious.  The books change constantly, so you have to visit often.  Oh, yeah, and the books are very, very inexpensive!  Come in and buy a pile of cheap-cheap-cheap books!  Nothing makes me feel wealthier than a stack of books waiting to be read. 

Q. How would you describe your own poetry and your inspiration as a poet?

A.  Poems walk right up to me, fall down, and ask to have their bellies scratched.  They are everywhere in everyday life; I simply take notes as fast as I can.  I try to write like a watercolor painter paints – with a quick, light touch and no time to fuss because the paint  dries fast.  I write a lot of bad poems to get them out of the way so I can write the good stuff. Journaling is reliable source of inspiration.  I keep an electronic journal, which consists primarily of emails I have sent.  I also keep a handwritten journal.  Every December I sit down and read them, and usually discover fourteen or fifteen new poems from bits and pieces I had taken notes about and then forgot.  January is a big writing month for me!One of favorite writing tools is reading a poem out loud to myself as I write it.  I believe poems have to sound good and be easy for a listening audience to understand.My best poems are the ones that surprise me, in which I make a discovery.  A word or phrase arrives from somewhere and writes itself.  What a rush!  I have no clue I am going to write it, I don’t plan it.  It often happens on the edge of sleep, so I have to get up, turn on a lamp and write it down before it vanishes.  It is totally mysterious and totally addicting.My public school English, art, and social studies teachers inspired and encouraged my writing (Springfield, Delaware County, PA), as well as O. John Brown, my writing teacher at Community Arts Center.  I can’t thank them all enough. 

Q. Do you have a favorite venue to read your works at and why?

A.  Nope.  If someone asks me to read my poetry, I’m there, wherever “there” is – book store, bakery, campfire, living room, wherever.  Go ahead, twist my arm. 

Q.  There are many publications available on line and in print that publish poetry. Are there any you would recommend?

A.  I’m afraid not.  I am unschooled in this area and in serious need of guidance myself. 

 Q. Do you have any projects forthcoming?

A.  Yes!  I have two books of poems in the works.  The first is called “Driving Below the Speed Limit” which is about my eighteen-year marriage and 2006 divorce.  The other one is “More Truth and Lies about the Moon” and is pretty much just moon and water poems.  I’ve been entering them in new book contests and hope they will be published some day. Also, I just received approval to start a new Mad Poets WEEKLY Critique Circle at the Community Arts Center (CAC) in Wallingford, PA in the fall of 2007.  What fun!  I love the Harvest Books Critique Circle and have been wishing for years that we could meet more often – once a month just ain’t cutting it for me. I woke up one morning recently with the idea to do a weekly critique circle that would be dirt cheap ($36 for 10 weeks) on Monday nights from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.  My ulterior motive is to build a group of local writers that meets once a week for mutual inspiration, comfort, and challenge.  I hope it works.    Come on out to a Critique Circle!