The Mad Poets Blog

Amy E. Laub, of Upper Darby, claims that her poems pretty much write themselves – she just takes notes as fast as she can.  A long-time member of the Mad Poets Society, Amy hosts the MPS Critique Circle on first Wednesdays in Media, Pa.  She also works tirelessly as an assistant editor for the Mad Poets Review. When she’s not busting her hump (for free) for the Mad Poets, Amy gets paid to be a full-time secretary for a public school district.

Amy began writing poems in the third grade when her teacher, Mrs. Clothier, assigned Thanksgiving poems. She found the Mad Poets Society in the late 90s thanks to a flyer in the Media Town Mall.  And thankfully for us, she has been leading the Mad Poets Critique Circle since the fall of 2003.

“The Circle started in April 2003,” Amy explains. “[That fall] Eileen D’Angelo asked me if could take over hosting it.  I was — and still am — honored and thrilled to do so.”

Amy says the Critique Circle includes about 30 local poets, about eight to 12 of whom get together on the first Wednesday of the month at the Media-Upper Providence Free Library.  “We read our original poems and discuss how to improve them,” Amy explains. “The group is warm, friendly, humorous, constructive, and diplomatic.  I find it enormously helpful with my writing.  Newcomers are always welcome.”

Amy is inspired by pay raises, naps, and anything chocolate (it’s pretty hard to argue with those!).  She despises pantyhose and will only wear them if she’ll be rewarded with an open bar (fair enough). Her favorite poet is Sharon Black, a local poet who lives in Wallingford, PA.   The one poem she wishes she’d written:

empty bench–

rain
sits down.

~by Joel Weishaus

Amy’s own aesthetic is simple, but not simplistic.  She excels at finding depth in the “mundane.”  As a poet and poetry leader, Amy is fresh and honest.  Her’s is definitely a voice you should stop and listen to, attentively.  So, come out and do that on August 13th why don’t you??