STAR ISLAND CORPORATION – Starry Night 2020
Auction Ends: Nov 21, 2020 09:00 PM EST

Books

"Oh, Say Did You Know" Award-Winning Poetry Chapbook by Ellen Schmidt

Item Number
115
Estimated Value
15 USD
Sold
75 USD to sk35959cf
Number of Bids
10  -  Bid History

Item Description

The poems in Oh say did you know reflect on the exterior world, the political and civil landscapes surrounding us all, as well as on the navigation of the interior. My poems traverse where the two meet. Keen observations from the natural world provide metaphors for these parallel terrains.  My poems juxtapose the impact of loss with gratitude for what we keep. The cycles of nature offer sturdy and stirring metaphors. Observations of daily life as well as imaginings are gleaned from growing wisdom that comes with age combined with a fresh outlook.

I teach writing in Ithaca, NY, summer workshops at Star Island, NH, and workshops each semester at Cornell University. After retiring from work in a crisis center in 2006, I felt like a cartoon character walking off a cliff into thin air without a plan. But within a few months, I designed Writing through the Rough Spots, a course enabling participants to create clarity about challenging life situations. My students, 18 - 85 year old, range widely - athlete, author, chaplain, ex-felon, hairdresser, musician, physician, prison guard, restaurant server, scientist, therapist... and come from across the US and 15 countries. I've written poems for most of my life, but only became interested in sharing them publicly when I turned 70. Less than two years later my poems appeared in Passager Poetry Contest Issue, The Avocet, Poetry Quarterly, Caesura, Connecticut River Review, Blood & Thunder, The Healing Muse.

I hope my poems will nurture other's spirits; writing them has nurtured mine.