The Morehead Writing Project’s 2022 Spring Writing Marathon wrapped up at the end of National Poetry Month in April. Several poets in the service region and beyond participated in the three-month marathon designed to inspire writers to connect with the people and places important to their lives and then craft their words into small poems. Three of the writing groups that participated in Small Poems: Great Writers chose to publish anthologies sharing their work while many other groups chose to share only within the community of participating writers.
“We chose to offer Small Poems: Great Writers this spring because writing together in community is the most powerful experience we offer as a National Writing Project site,” said Site Director Dr. Deanna Mascle. “Our site has a long tradition of hosting writing retreats and writing marathons because we know writing is magic.”
The Morehead WP Leadership Team of Leslie Workman of Fairview Elementary, Stacie May of Rowan County Middle; Seth Thatcher of Bath County High chose to make small poems the focus of the writing marathon because small poems offer many benefits. “By their very definition they are less intimidating and there are so many interesting forms to guide the work that crafting those small poems from free writes provided a challenging puzzle. We all drew inspiration from the writing invitations and from each other,” Mascle said.
The Morehead WP will host a stop on the National Writing Project’s Write Across America Virtual Writing Marathon this summer and also work with the Teens Write Across America. Watch the Morehead WP social media and this site for details as they become available. Reach out to the Morehead WP Leadership Team to join this work.