Worded Write Releases New Book by Senior-Citizen Student, No One Ever Told Me: Poems for People Over Fifty
Senior-citizen student in Arizona State University's Osher Lifelong-Learning Creative-Writing program publishes poetry collection, "No One Ever Told Me: Poems for People Over Fifty."
Peoria, AZ, October 10, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Marilyn Haight’s debut book of poetry, No One Ever Told Me: Poems for People Over Fifty, finally arrives after six years of studying Creative Writing! It’s not that she went to school to plan for a writing career--it’s that after retiring from a business career, she went to schools designed for senior citizens. Haight attends classes at Arizona State University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; classes at Grand Learning in Surprise, AZ (an ASU Osher affiliate); and workshops led by professional poet James Masao Mitsui, a Surprise, AZ, resident with four books of poetry in print.
Haight says retirement gives you the opportunity to think back to the things that interested you in your youth, before you discovered what you could make a living at. She remembers writing poetry in the fifth grade and giving it to her teacher on the last day of class, who encouraged her to continue. Throughout her business career, while attending school at night and volunteering, she would occasionally write a poem just for herself. But not very good poems--the old-fashioned, sing-songy rhyming kind. So, in retirement, she decided to try to learn to write better poetry. She contacted ASU West to see if there were courses available for seniors. And there were.
While some are humorous, all of the poems in No One Ever Told Me: Poems for People Over Fifty deal with serious subjects, such as living in an aging body; dealing with ongoing loss; and looking toward a future that’s shorter than the past. Haight’s poems read more like little snippets of life--she says they are “accessible”--anyone can read and understand them, you don’t have to be a literary genius.
Haight was reluctant to publish her poems because of their private nature. She credits her teacher and mentor, Jim Mitsui, with encouraging her to publish her poetry, as well as colleagues and friends who say her poems have universal appeal because the topics deal with issues most of us face in our later years.
No One Ever Told Me: Poems for People Over Fifty (ISBN 978-0-9800390-4-7; Worded Write Publishing; Ingram Distributors; $12.) is available from local and online book sellers.
http://www.wordedwrite.com
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Haight says retirement gives you the opportunity to think back to the things that interested you in your youth, before you discovered what you could make a living at. She remembers writing poetry in the fifth grade and giving it to her teacher on the last day of class, who encouraged her to continue. Throughout her business career, while attending school at night and volunteering, she would occasionally write a poem just for herself. But not very good poems--the old-fashioned, sing-songy rhyming kind. So, in retirement, she decided to try to learn to write better poetry. She contacted ASU West to see if there were courses available for seniors. And there were.
While some are humorous, all of the poems in No One Ever Told Me: Poems for People Over Fifty deal with serious subjects, such as living in an aging body; dealing with ongoing loss; and looking toward a future that’s shorter than the past. Haight’s poems read more like little snippets of life--she says they are “accessible”--anyone can read and understand them, you don’t have to be a literary genius.
Haight was reluctant to publish her poems because of their private nature. She credits her teacher and mentor, Jim Mitsui, with encouraging her to publish her poetry, as well as colleagues and friends who say her poems have universal appeal because the topics deal with issues most of us face in our later years.
No One Ever Told Me: Poems for People Over Fifty (ISBN 978-0-9800390-4-7; Worded Write Publishing; Ingram Distributors; $12.) is available from local and online book sellers.
http://www.wordedwrite.com
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Worded Write
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www.wordedwrite.com
Mina Case
623-825-3845
www.wordedwrite.com
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