April 2014 - District 5 Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the District 5 KAC Meeting
4-12-14
Rockwell Public Library, Wichita, KS
President Roy Beckemeyer opened the meeting by asking for a volunteer to step up as Publicity Chair. He said that a board meeting was held the previous Saturday. He asked all current members who planned to renew memberships to do so by May 31, 2014. KAC gained 40 new members this year, 16 of them in District 5. If members are not signed up on the District 5 blog, they are encouraged to do so. This is our means of communicating with members. You can also connect to members’ blogs from the D5 blog. Cindy Kerr will continue to manage the blog. The treasurer was absent, so no treasurer’s report, but unless he absconded to parts unknown with the money, we are fine. (Secretary’s note: Ray later contacted us, so no absconding took place.) Kathy announced the abridged version of the minutes. For full details, including the gist of the lesson Pat McDonald provided, see the blog, where the full minutes are posted.
Louise once again forced us to eat candy by asking for introductions and member news. She then posed the question: what makes you pull a book from the shelf in a bookstore and consider buying it? Most said “title,” a few were drawn to “cover,” some the “back blurb.” Others were attracted by a favorite author or reviews they’ve read.
Then we celebrated National Poetry Month with one of our own, long-time poets, Roy Beckemeyer, and a new member poet, April Pameticky. In addition to being a mom and poet, April also teaches middle school, and Roy—well, you know Roy. They talked about poets serving as both witness and narrator. The poetry publishing world is different from fiction or articles. April has published a chapbook, which is poet-speak for a small book of collected poems. Both agreed that every writer must also be a reader. One must write every day and read regularly in the genre. For most, involvement in a critique group brings feedback. Getting published means getting rejection slips (or emails, these days).
They introduced us to forms of poetry I don’t remember studying in lit classes. Not all are rhyming poems or Shakespearean sonnets. List poems are simply lists of things. Whisper poems are written to be whispered, not shouted. There is a form of poetry called ekphrastic, which comments on another art form, such as a sketch or photograph. Poetry can be totally free verse or extremely structured, like haiku.
Poetry is not just limited to words written on a page. Many poets do poetry performances at open mic nights or other venues, like the beat poets of the Sixties. To prove that point, several members read their poems. All in all, Roy and April made poetry interesting and delved much deeper into the variety of soulful expression that is poetry. Thanks guys. And by the way, April joined KAC.
4-12-14
Rockwell Public Library, Wichita, KS
President Roy Beckemeyer opened the meeting by asking for a volunteer to step up as Publicity Chair. He said that a board meeting was held the previous Saturday. He asked all current members who planned to renew memberships to do so by May 31, 2014. KAC gained 40 new members this year, 16 of them in District 5. If members are not signed up on the District 5 blog, they are encouraged to do so. This is our means of communicating with members. You can also connect to members’ blogs from the D5 blog. Cindy Kerr will continue to manage the blog. The treasurer was absent, so no treasurer’s report, but unless he absconded to parts unknown with the money, we are fine. (Secretary’s note: Ray later contacted us, so no absconding took place.) Kathy announced the abridged version of the minutes. For full details, including the gist of the lesson Pat McDonald provided, see the blog, where the full minutes are posted.
Louise once again forced us to eat candy by asking for introductions and member news. She then posed the question: what makes you pull a book from the shelf in a bookstore and consider buying it? Most said “title,” a few were drawn to “cover,” some the “back blurb.” Others were attracted by a favorite author or reviews they’ve read.
Then we celebrated National Poetry Month with one of our own, long-time poets, Roy Beckemeyer, and a new member poet, April Pameticky. In addition to being a mom and poet, April also teaches middle school, and Roy—well, you know Roy. They talked about poets serving as both witness and narrator. The poetry publishing world is different from fiction or articles. April has published a chapbook, which is poet-speak for a small book of collected poems. Both agreed that every writer must also be a reader. One must write every day and read regularly in the genre. For most, involvement in a critique group brings feedback. Getting published means getting rejection slips (or emails, these days).
They introduced us to forms of poetry I don’t remember studying in lit classes. Not all are rhyming poems or Shakespearean sonnets. List poems are simply lists of things. Whisper poems are written to be whispered, not shouted. There is a form of poetry called ekphrastic, which comments on another art form, such as a sketch or photograph. Poetry can be totally free verse or extremely structured, like haiku.
Poetry is not just limited to words written on a page. Many poets do poetry performances at open mic nights or other venues, like the beat poets of the Sixties. To prove that point, several members read their poems. All in all, Roy and April made poetry interesting and delved much deeper into the variety of soulful expression that is poetry. Thanks guys. And by the way, April joined KAC.