Posts

The Zoom presentation of “The Lake Michigan Mermaid” with Linda Nemec Foster and Anne-Marie Oomen is now online.

Sponsored by the Royal Oak Public Library, the program can be found on the library’s YouTube channel.

The link to directly access the reading is below:
https://youtu.be/QinRekk0Yeg

Additional YouTube Links:
– Royal Oak Public Library: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU0kJf8YKwswSB1KjAkd5dw/featured

Linda Nemec Foster is Interviewed on WBLV-FM (Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp’s Public Radio Station)

Linda Nemec Foster was interviewed on WBLV-FM by radio host, Foley Schuler, on March 5, 2019.

To listen to the full interview on WBLV’s website, click here.

The Lake Michigan Mermaid is a finalist in a National Book Competition Sponsored by ForeWord Reviews.

The Lake Michigan Mermaid is a finalist in this national book competition for independent, university, and small presses sponsored by ForeWord Reviews for the following prize: “2019’s ForeWord Book of the Year Award in Poetry”.

The Lake Michigan Mermaid is a Finalist in a National Contest for Superior Cover Artwork by the Eric Hoffer Book Awards.

The Lake Michigan Mermaid is a finalist in this prestigious national contest given for superior cover artwork by the Eric Hoffer Book Awards for the following prize: “2019’s The da Vinci Eye Award”.

The Lake Michigan Mermaid is Selected by the Library of Michigan as a Michigan Notable Book for 2019

This annual award honors 20 acclaimed books from over 300 titles submitted. The Lake Michigan Mermaid is among those celebrated.

To view the full list, click here to visit the Detroit Free Press website.

Michigan Public Radio Recommends The Lake Michigan Mermaid as One of the Top Michigan Notable Books for 2019

The Lake Michigan Mermaid was honored as a “2019 Michigan Notable Book” by the Library of Michigan.

To view the full list of Michigan’s Notable Books (including Michigan Radio’s interview with Linda Nemec Foster & Anne-Marie Oomen), please click here to visit the Michigan Radio website.

Michigan Public Radio 2018 Book Gift Guide Recommends The Lake Michigan Mermaid

Linda Nemec Foster and Anne-Marie Oomen’s latest poetry book, The Lake Michigan Mermaid, has been recommended by Michigan Public Radio in their 2018 Book Gift Guide!

Click here to view the full Michigan Public Radio 2018 Book Gift Guide.

Linda Nemec Foster is interviewed on WYCE’s Electric Poetry

Linda Nemec Foster was recently interviewed on a episode of WYCE’s Electric Poetry hosted by Kelsey May Fraser, which aired on 9/11/18.

To listen to the full interview, click on the play button below or click here to visit WYCE’s website.

WHY I WRITE – by Linda Nemec Foster

Linda Nemec Foster’s essay is featured on the website, Write Across Chicago, which is sponsored by the Illinois Writing Project based at Northeastern Illinois University. A member of the Society of Midland Authors, Linda is the only non-Illinois resident featured on the website.

To read the full article, please click here!


WHY I WRITE – by Linda Nemec Foster

 

ON WRITING

By Linda Nemec Foster

I write because I want to connect with others. I’m primarily a poet and I love poetry for the powerful way it uses language and the blankness around line breaks and stanzas to reflect metaphor, imagery, tone, rhythm, and pacing. Poetry is the only kind of writing where what you don’t say (think of all that white space on the page that surrounds a poem) is as important as what you do say (the language that encompasses each line). And when a poem is read out loud–connecting it to that ancient oral tradition that was the precursor to all written literature–the process is complete.

I also write flash fiction and prose poems that balance the tone between narrative and lyric voices. I like to work with this dichotomy: it’s an ambitious exercise but when the piece can achieve that balance between a narrative arc and strong lyricism, it’s nothing short of magic.

When I’m starting a new poem, I’ll write the first drafts in longhand on a yellow legal pad or a standard notebook. On average, this process of early drafting can result in five to ten rough drafts; that is, every poem I create begins in drafts of at least five to ten versions. After I determine that the piece has achieved a decent structure of form and content, I take the most recent draft and type it on the computer. The revision process continues as I see how the structure evolves as a typed piece. This is particularly essential for poetry as line breaks, stanzas, and section breaks are readily formatted on the computer screen. Currently, a lot of poets and writers prefer to compose directly on the computer but I’m “old school.” I love to feel the paper, to hold the pen, to cross out words and add lines. It’s a tactile and visceral experience for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know the computer is essential for final revisions but that initial creative spark–the first drafts–are always handwritten.

My work of being a poet, a writer, and now (after eleven published poetry collections) an author has enriched my life in ways that are inestimable. True, there is no money in poetry. But the intangible rewards are gratifying and humbling. The most amazing situation I experienced as a writer was when I received an email from a person I never met. This woman had purchased one of my poetry books–a collection of haiku and visual art–that was a quiet meditation on nature and our place in the natural world. Every day she would read excerpts from the book to her friend who was in the advanced stages of terminal cancer. The poetry gave both of them a sense of peace and serenity as one life ended and one life carried on. No award or recognition could match the significance of those words from that stranger.

Linda Nemec Foster is a poet, writer, literary presenter, and founder of the Contemporary Writers Series at Aquinas College. She is the author of eleven collections of poetry including The Lake Michigan Mermaid (with Anne-Marie Oomen), Talking Diamonds, Amber Necklace from Gdańsk, Listen to the Landscape, and Living in the Fire Nest.

Linda Nemec Foster featured on the Poetry Foundation’s Website

Below is an excerpt from the Poetry Foundation’s Website:


Linda Nemec Foster is the author of 11 collections of poetry, including The Lake Michigan Mermaid (Wayne State University Press, 2018), coauthored with Anne-Marie Oomen; Talking Diamonds (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2009); and Amber Necklace from Gdańsk (Louisiana State University Press, 2001). Her work has been published in anthologies, magazines, and journals, including the Georgia Review, Nimrod, Quarterly West, Witness, New American Writing, North American Review, and Verse Daily. Her poems have been translated into European languages, have inspired original musical compositions, and have been produced for the stage.

To read the full article, please click here!

Events

Nothing Found

Sorry, no posts matched your criteria