FOUND POEMS: Digging for Buried Treasure

ByLee Ann

The most fun I’ve had with poetry lately is creating “found poems.” Like a kid with a treasure map, I’ve been mining existing texts for the poetry hidden within. Here’s an example, found of all places in the textbook, Canadian Copyright Law, by Lesley Ellen Harris. I call it, “Advice to Would-Be Colonizers”:

Poem found in a textbook!

This form of poetry first appeared in the mid-20th Century alongside other types of Pop Art (think Andy Warhol’s 1962 paintings of Campbell’s soup cans). It is art created from recycled items, giving ordinary things new meaning when put within a new context. In other words, it’s finding buried treasure. Newspaper articles, street signs, graffiti, speeches, letters, or even other poems all provide the raw material for found poems. Novels are also a great source! Here’s a poem I found in the classic Mutiny on the Bounty, by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.

The great event in his life had been
an extraordinary affair
which broke into an uproar and
confusion very strange,
far from easy to subdue.
Presently the great wave left destruction in its wake
leaked into us
and it was here that
the seeds of discontent,
destined to be the ruin, were sown.

And here’s the raw material.

So forget Sudoku, forget crossword puzzles, you can exercise your brain by trying this form of poetry! Use the “blackout” approach above, or maybe you’d prefer a literary collage, where the artist (you!) cuts words or phrases out of the raw material, and rearranges them into a found poem. This approach is called “cut-up,” or in French if you want to sound very literary: “découpé”. (Pro tip: don’t try découpé with a library book…)

Remember: poetry is everywhere, often hiding in plain view.

May you find many treasures, buried and otherwise, this holiday season!

Lee Ann

What Else is New?

Any book lovers on your holiday gift-giving list? I can help!

The Other Princess, by Denny S. Bryce. Read my interview with the author and learn about Queen Victoria’s African princess goddaughter, Sarah Forbes Bonetta. This is the latest in my series on Fascinating Women You’ve Never Heard Of.

Growing Joy: The Plant Lovers Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants), by Maria Failla, an enthusiastic how-to book. The ideal reader is someone who is new to gardening, or considers themselves “not a gardener” and who would welcome a light, but informative book. You can read my review on Page 6 of the December issue of Trowel Talk, newsletter of the Master Gardeners of Ottawa-Carleton.

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WRITING IT SO THEY READ IT: How I’m Bringing Family History to Generation Y

ByLee Ann

I set myself a bit of a challenge lately when I decided to create a family history specifically for my two sons, age 28 and 25. Neither of them likes to read. Neither has a big interest in history, family or otherwise. But they do like hearing me tell stories of the ancestors I’ve discovered: the inventors, heroes, and adventurers they descend from.

I knew right away that writing a book for them, while great fun for me, would be a spectacular failure in the end because they wouldn’t read it. So I started thinking about what they would want to know, and how I could best package it.

Right away, I realized two things:

  1. Any data has to be directly related to them, and anchored in family members they know. So the working title of this project is “YOU!” and I use that pronoun in everything I present to them. I also use their four grandparents as the “roots” for the branches of the family.
  2. Everything has to be delivered to their phones. This is, of course, how they are used to getting information.

I write short, illustrated pieces that I know will catch their interest: any link to hockey; ancestors who farmed near their beloved Muskoka cottage; members of the military in addition to the cousin they know well.

This picture tells them of their nationalities: Your Nationalities pdf

Two short essays give snapshots of what each of the four branches of the family were up to in 1909 and 1927 – the first and last times the Ottawa Senators won the Stanley Cup.

Of course, it takes a long time to put together all the research necessary for one of these one- or two-page history bursts. But I love nothing more than kneading raw data into something interesting… providing a glimpse of people’s lives from the distant past in a way that these “millennial” boys of mine will relate to.

I send out a new installment of “YOU!” about every month or six weeks. So far, the return emails have lots of exclamation marks, usually following “awesome, Mom”.

To other genealogists I say, “Know your audience. The rewards are many!”

CLUES TO A LIFE: First Steps to Knowing an Ancestor

ByLee Ann

Sometimes a genealogist finds a jackpot of information about an ancestor: photos, records, letters, memories. Most often we have only tantalizing clues with which to piece together the story of a life.

Such was the case with William Henry Bellamy, my husband’s maternal grandfather. All I knew starting out was that he:

  • was born in England
  • spent time in Burma during World War I
  • ran a POW camp in Alberta during World War II
  • lived in Niagara Falls during my husband’s growing up years (1950s).

We have this wedding photo of him with my husband’s grandmother, Dorothy Baston:

And we have these pieces, which we think may have come back with him from Burma:

That’s it… and yet, that’s quite a lot. Following these clues down the typical research avenues, I could look for specific facts about William and orienting myself to the times and places of his life:

  • Ancestry.ca for census, birth and marriage information
  • online searches for Burma (now Myanmar and independent from Britain since 1948) and for WWII POW camps in Canada (who knew!)
  • contact with Uncle Jack, William’s son and my husband’s uncle.

This is what I think of as “Phase I” research, which scoops up the basic pieces of data about the person’s life and points to the more serious searching to be done.

Marriage records are treasure-chests of data: age, parents’ names, current address, occupation, and in William’s case, his rank and the name of his regiment in 1918: Second Lieutenant, The King’s Own Royal Lancaster.

The trouble with documents like this is they often contain, well… lies.

Which is what Uncle Jack confirmed, when he provided two major pieces of data: first, William’s birthdate was not what he claimed on the marriage record. Second, William ran away from home at age 15 and registered for the army under his mother’s maiden name, Mann.

This, of course, raised a whole barrage of questions for Phase II research: why did he fudge his age? Why did he run away? And how did he manage to go from William Mann to William Bellamy in the military?

The answers to ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions are always more fascinating than ‘what’ and ‘when’. And I think for the most part, clues to these answers are most often provided by those who knew the ancestor.

So, talk to your elders. They give great clues!

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BABY BOOMER IN THE BLOGOSPHERE: Book Marketing in the 21st Century

ByLee Ann

I’m about to take a giant leap forward in the online world.

My friends and family will LOL about this, knowing that I have only very recently got a smart phone and I don’t even have email on it. Queen of the Baby Steps, that’s me.

When it comes to Muskoka’s Main Street, though, I paid close attention to what the Writers’ Union of Canada’s recent webinar advised about the opportunities in the land of the Internet. Of course I have a website. I even have a blog – not bad for a baby-boomer! What I want to do next is to extend my reach a bit, and use the Internet to make the book as interesting and as visible as possible.

My friend Lynn is my technical guru and hand-holder in this process. She builds websites that are “smooth, elegant, bright and beautiful” – what more could anyone want? I already love the new look she’s put together for me. Stay tuned for the launch of the revamped look!

Beyond the flash will be lots of substance, including:

  • An interactive map of the Muskoka Road,
  • ‘Share’ buttons for Facebook and Twitter users, although I am not a big Facebook user myself and I do not tweet,
  • A ‘pinnable’ book cover icon for Pinterest users. 

But wait, there’s more! I will create a Facebook page for the book, beef up my LinkedIn information, and research book bloggers to see if it makes sense to approach any of them.

And you thought all a writer had to do was write.

BOOK MARKETING, Part 1: WRITERS AS PUBLICISTS

ByLee Ann

Muskoka’s Main Street is expected to hit the market in late spring of this year. Although I’m still busy editing the manuscript, it’s not too early to start thinking about how I will help the book find its readers.

Books do not find their way into the hands of readers on their own, or by magic, or just through the efforts of publishers and bookstores. Writers must be very active in promoting their books. This goes for all writers, self-published or not. And the book market is a complex world these days, traditional and electronic, filled with as many opportunities as you can create for yourself.  

I recently attended my first ever webinar – a seminar presented over the web – run by the Writers Union of Canada. Called “How to Be Your Own Publicist,” it offered ideas both traditional and electronic, and spurred my thinking about what would suit my book, my potential readers and my personality.

The big question is: who are my readers? I’ve already done some thinking about that. “Are You My Reader?”

Second question: Where can I find my readers? At the bookstore, yes, and I will certainly help my publisher’s efforts by approaching  bookstores, particularly those in the Ottawa area that are known to support local authors. Bookstores are not the only place to sell books, though. For me there’s also:

  • Writers’ festivals in Muskoka, Parry Sound, Nipissing and Ottawa
  • Book clubs, both physical and virtual
  • Historical societies and libraries, and even
  • Magazines, where I can write articles related to the topics and themes of the book.

Publishers don’t usually do book launches any more; instead of one big splash they tend to organize several smaller events and readings. I expect to participate in many of these, and to host some of my own in Ottawa and Muskoka.

Over the next couple of months, my publisher and I will come up with a promotion plan for Main Street. Meanwhile, I’m looking into the online world for other opportunities to spread the news about this exciting new book! More on that next time.

LIFE AFTER MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

ByLee Ann

I submitted the manuscript about a week ago (did you hear the cosmic boom?) Yes, it felt great! Yes, I feel lighter, more relaxed, able to lift my head above my computer screen and remember what else is happening in my life.

Submitted manuscript: 144 pages

Geoff and I promptly went on a little getaway, then came back and did some fun home improvement projects. Nothing like new paint and light fixtures to generate fresh energy!

Gary (my master map-maker and book designer) kept busy in the meantime, as did my publisher. We now have a production schedule that will put the book in the hands of readers by about the end of May. That means:

  • By March 20, the final manuscript, all illustrations and cover material need to be in the book designer’s hands.
  • By April 30, the book goes to the printer.

Between now and March 20, lots happens:

  1. Substantive Edit. In this process the editor reviews the structure and content of the manuscript and suggests reorganization or changes to clarify the text.
  2. Introduction and cover ‘blurbs’. These are endorsements of the book by people who have knowledge of the area, topic, or are writers of similar kinds of books.
  3. About the Writer, About This Book. These are short blurbs for the cover, and used in press releases.
  4. Author Photos. (Two of them.)
  5. Final decisions on illustrations. I’ve submitted over 90 photos and maps (not counting the custom maps). Both my book designer and my publisher have ideas for others that should be included.
  6. Copy Edit. This is a detailed, line by line review for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other mechanics of style, plus consistency of language usage and of facts.

All of these are collaborative efforts between me, the publisher and book designer. Some of this work has already started, like changes to photos and maps, and preliminary book design. 

When all is final, I will see a “proof” of the book before it goes to print.

Meanwhile, we also start marketing. And did I mention the interactive website? Stay tuned – there’s more than new paint and light fixtures going on around here!