In celebration of National Poetry Month in April, poets near and far are gearing up for NaPoWriMo, challenging themselves to write 30 poems in 30 days.It sounds daunting, but it’s actually a lot of fun! In a weird, geeky poet sort of way.
Visit the NaPoWriMo website for more information, check out participating poets’ sites, and/or submit your own site so folks can follow along!
Then, visit our sister site, Random Acts of Writing, to follow this poet’s progress.
WHY THE PENCIL IS PERFECT
Why are pencils shaped like hexagons, and how did they get their iconic yellow color? Pencil shop owner Caroline Weaver takes us inside the fascinating history of the pencil.
CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN
Written by Sayaka Murata
The English-language debut of one of Japan’s most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there, Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction―many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual―and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It’s almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action…
A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.
As a former “convenience store woman” myself (college days), I easily stepped into the world of Keiko Furukura. It was very familiar — perhaps in too many ways. Who hasn’t felt a little off-center from the rest of the world sometimes? Hooray! for Keiko to figure out a work-around that brings her peace and fulfillment. And Bravo! the reader who can welcome Keiko into her/his heart…she is sweet and funny and sad, and living life on her own terms. Happily. — Jen Payne
EMBRACE YOUR RAW, STRANGE MAGIC
The way we’re taught to live has got to change, says author Casey Gerald. Too often, we hide parts of ourselves in order to fit in, win praise, be accepted. But at what cost? In this inspiring talk, Gerald shares the personal sacrifices he made to attain success in the upper echelons of American society — and shows why it’s time for us to have the courage to live in the raw, strange magic of ourselves.
VISIT OUR ETSY BOOKSHOP TODAY
Branford entrepreneurs Gina Macdonald and Jen Payne speak on their individual passions for their work, and how their creative interests in writing, art and mindfulness led to a collaborative effort on Gina’s new book Mind Your Own Body: A Body Image Handbook.
Wednesday, February 6
7:00 p.m. at Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library
146 Thimble Island Road, Stony Creek, CT
Copies of the Mind Your Own Body will be available for purchase and signing after the presentation.
Gina Macdonald MA,LPC,CEDS has more than 25 years of experience working with the eating disorder population addressing body image issues. A Certified International Eating Disorder Specialist/Supervisor and Licensed Professional Counselor with an Expressive Art Therapy Graduate Degree, she regularly lectures on college and university campuses to both staff and students.
Jen Payne is the owner of Words by Jen, a graphic design and creative services company founded in 1993. She is the author of two books, Look Up! Musings on the Nature of Mindfulness and Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind, published by her publishing company Three Chairs Publishing.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26 • 6:00 p.m.
First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven
featuring Evidence of Flossing by Naturalist Jen Payne
On Saturday, January 26, the New Haven Bioregional Group will host author and naturalist Jen Payne for a poetry reading and book signing featuring her book Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind. The event, held at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven (608 Whitney Avenue, New Haven), begins with a potluck supper at 6PM, followed by the reading at 7PM.
Come listen to a selection of poems that are, at their heart, love poems to the something greater within all of us. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Mary Oliver, they explore the human condition juxtaposed to the natural world and the possibility of divine connection.
Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind follows on the heels of Payne’s 2014 well-received book LOOK UP! Musings on the Nature of Mindfulness, and continues a dialogue about our innate connection with nature. Both books will be available at the event, which is free and open to the public.
Jen Payne enjoys writing about our relationships with each other, with our natural world, and with our innate creativity. Installations of her poetry were featured in exhibitions at the Arts Council of Greater New Haven and Kehler Liddell Gallery (New Haven), and her work has been published by The Aurorean, Six Sentences, the Story Circle Network, WOW! Women on Writing, and The Perch, a publication by the Yale Program for Recovery & Community Health. Jen is a member of the Guilford Poets Guild and the Connecticut Poetry Society. You can find more of her work on her blog Random Acts of Writing, www.randomactsofwriting.net.
Connecting New Haveners to their life place, the New Haven Bioregional Group sponsors walks, films, canoe trips, potlucks, and other events to help us connect with our natural and built environment, and to build community and local resilience.
For more information about this event and others, please visit www.newhavenbioregionalgroup.org.
