Columbus poet Maggie Smith will be the guest speaker at the next Writers Ink meeting, April 15, from 4:30 to 7:30 PM at Columbus State Community College, 315 Cleveland Avenue. She will also be leading an introductory poetry class for adults at Thurber Center, 91 Jefferson Avenue, on April 23.
A Columbus native, Smith is a poet, freelance writer, editor, and blogger for The Kenyon Review. She is the author of Lamp of the Body (Red Hen Press, 2005), Nesting Dolls (Pudding House, 2005), and The List of Dangers (Kent State University Press, 2010), a Wick Poetry Series selection. Her work has also appeared in several literary journals and has been included in a number of anthologies. She is a 2011 recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and she has received three Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council and a fellowship from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Place is important in Smith’s works. “I write about the Midwest, the way it looks and the way it feels, because this is where I am and where I have grown up. I am a very visual person. If I lived somewhere else, say, in Texas, my poetry would reflect that place.” She said it is important for poets to be true to their own voices and responses, rather than trying to recreate someone else’s work or write in a currently popular style. In response to the question, “How do you teach poetry?” Smith replied, “It’s difficult, especially in a workshop situation. But I do think you can teach people techniques and get them started.”
According to Smith, one of the most important things aspiring poets can do is read other people’s work. “It’s so important, even for enthusiasts,” she explains. “Reading other poetry inspires and informs your work. If you read a lot, you have an inherent sense of how language works and what it can do. So much of teaching is about exposing students to a great variety of writers. Exposing, rather than prescribing. That sends them on the right path to creating works that express their thoughts in their unique voices.”
She likens mastery of technique to the possession of a toolbox. By reading other poets’ work, the various tools become familiar. Smith likes to demonstrate poetic devices such as metaphor and simile at work, showing students a model for the process of constructing poetry.
Revision, she says, is critical, and she teaches revision strategies to her students. “Never send a poem out as soon you finish writing it,” she advises. “Let it sit, then go back to it several times. Read it out loud; you will hear the difficult spots sooner than you will see them. Trust your ear more than your eyes.”
Smith currently works as an editor for children’s textbooks. She says that writing poetry has made her a more effective editor. “Poetry is distilling language into a form where the most meaning is captured in the fewest words,” she explained. “I find explanations in the textbooks that are too long. They use too many words to explain a concept to children. I’m able to condense those instructions, make them simpler and more direct.”
The world of poetry is highly competitive, and getting published is a significant accomplishment. Asked if having an MFA increases the chances of getting published, Smith said, “I don’t think just having the degree gets you published, but certainly the knowledge gained in earning that degree helps. My first book, Lamp of the Body, was my master’s thesis, and I certainly benefited from having the advice and supervision of some exceptionally talented faculty. However, many successful writers have not been formally trained, but have come from other professions and other walks of life.”
To register for the Thurber House Adult Writing Workshop Introduction to Poetry, contact the Thurber Center at www.thurberhouse.org, or call 614-464-1032. No registration is necessary for the Writers Ink meeting. For more information about Maggie Smith, visit her website.
