Happy Monday everyone! Hopefully those of you affected by Franken-Storm are all safe right now. I am typing this on Sunday evening and the rain has started here but we do not have the winds…yet. The bulk of the storm is passing through overnight.
I wanted to take the opportunity today to pause and thank Chris for doing a great job with Pretzels & Bullfights. For me it was an education. Poetry was not my thing up until a few years ago. I wrote short story and prose up until I was challenged to try it by a commenter on one of the stories I posted on my blog.
I wrote poetry for several months before I started to read published poets or study the art. Many of the poets that Chris introduced to us, I had never read—and in reading gained great insight into how other poets approach the art form.
The way I entered into poetry, through the encouragement of someone else also has a huge influence on how I approach poetry & other poets. It is also one of the main reasons for creating dVerse Poets and previously One Stop Poetry. It is why I personally try to read as many of you as I can that join us for OpenLinkNight or one of our prompts.
It is in community that we grow—through reading an interacting.
That being said, Claudia & I have been talking about what we are going to do with Pretzels & Bullfights, and we received a few ideas from our amazing team. We have not decided yet what we will do with the space.
We would like to open it up to any ideas that you might have for Pretzels & Bullfights. Please let us know in the comments below.
Again, I hope that everyone is safe and/or enjoying their Monday. Look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow for OpenLinkNight. Thanks for being a part of what makes dVerse so special. ~Brian
dVerse 
Glad you’re safe Brian, and hope everyone else is, too.
Here are a few ideas:
– Spotlights/Interviews
– Poetry news… submission opportunities, contests, published dVersers (lol), etc.
– Critique
nice…i like these laurie….we had been kicking around the idea of spotlighting some of the poets that frequent the pub on a regular basis so i really like that idea…
That would be wonderful.
It may have been done before, but what about picking up on the tastes / shapes associated with Pretzels and Bullfights? Or maybe link Pretzels to their place of origin or the shapes they suggest and ditto Bullfights? I may be being too prosaic here, but you asked the question ~ smiles ~ and, as per Laurie, do this via interviews / news / submissions etc with a critique after the event? (This could add something extra to the replies we leave?)
cool ideas polly…and there are no bad ideas…except maybe the ones we dont mention…smiles…
Glad to know you are safe Brian ~ The storm and wind is hitting us tonight ~
I would suggest that we continue the “education series” on poetry and poets from around the world. Highlight on a poet from different countries each week, as it is great to know and read about their work too. This takes some work and research, but it can be a revolving and shared work/contribution among the team and even members too ~ We are from different parts of the world, so why not bring this diversity to our learning ~
Happy day to everyone ~
nice…i like the idea of moving around the globe and celebrating diversity in other ways as well….
Be safe, all of you out there in the path of Sandy.
I am anxiously praying all our storm-battered friends in US.
I like Grace’s idea, Brian.
I do hope everyone in Sandy’s path will be safe…scary storm for all in its way!
luckily, we were passed over in many ways…it is still raining and has been all day, the winds were up but dont seem as bad as they initially thought…i am def thinking about our friends to the north though and all the flooding, wind damage…and beyond…
Watching the news while im safe and dry in NC. Stay safe everyone on the NE coast and may we all do ur share to help in any way we can during the aftermath. I like all the suggestions, especially interviews and highlighting poets from around the world. These past few months I have read dVerse, just been too busy to participate. I will have a bit more free time soon. Can’t wait to see what fills P&B.
just coming online…some really neat ideas already…nice..
Thanks for asking! I love this site, participating, reading, learning and sharing.
My ideas would be…continue w poets alive or dead, famous or not n many countries…critique on a known position, another words maybe participation like being graded for a test…Tuesday is the big day, repeat the posts for Friday as we never can read all on Tuesday, so that way if people have nothing to do they can read n not write on Friday…I loved doing the photo prompt from an artist, combining visual w written right off the top of our brain. Also anything you come up with. 🙂
smiles….glad you like the photos…..tune in saturday as i have an artist i have procured some pictures from for us to write on…
Stay safe everyone.
Hey! The power’s back! So, I will miss this feature if it really goes. I liked meeting new oldies I had not met. I don’t know who would pick up this work. I also like reading “I wish I wrote this poem” on Poets United and poem-a-day at Poets.org. Another possibility I suppose, is to feature a poet in that spot–one of yours or yours could each pick a favorite to feature for a day–and show a few poems. Could be a day like at Border’s Books shelves marked “Salesperson’s choice.” Or even a “what’s on your night table” feature.
Power’s still on. I’ll go and pick a poem for tomorrow.
smiles….thanks susan…great ideas…..power is back on here as well…woohoo…and thoughts for those up north that will be coping with it for the coming days…
Hello,
My request would be to continue to spotlight old and new poets from around the world, from different cultures (I loved the post about chinese poetry!), and also poetry news. The latter in terms of not just contemporary poets/awards/books published etc, but also old/classical poets being re-interpreted, or newer translations/books being written about them.
Wishing you all safe passage through the storm and a great week ahead.
thank you as well for the suggestions….I am glad we did this as this is ‘our’ community and we all have input and a stake in this…
Hey all !!!
I hope everyone is safe from mischievous Sandy .
Regarding Ideas I think we can analyse a poetry different perspectives. We can analyse a poets poetry for a period of two weeks or more so that we gain understanding about how it was written , what tools were use , the thoughts of poet while writing the muse and more. I think it is always good to read more in order to write better.
Yep and yes i am trying to back soon just on a hibernation . really struggling to write amidst personal setbacks in life. Keep encouraging !!
Smiles
Divya
And yes i am game to support here
smiles…that is what i love to hear….ideas with muscle behind them…
My hope and prayers for all of you affected by the storm. Keep safe!
Cressida de Nova
It’s still brutal out there…and I’m incredibly late to this party! Oh my….all the ideas above sound awesome….I would LOVE to learn more about the poets that post here every week…in my mind, there’s really nothing more diverse than the group that gathers here, and I think some might just be surprised by the caliber of talent and accomplishment that party’s it up each week…stay safe folks, and see you this afternoon 🙂
I’m a newbie so I can’t really comment on these suggestions, other than to say that I find the pub quite warm and welcoming. Great suggestions, so far.