POETRY GONG #1 / New to you
Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Follow us to Ring #2 where we will attempt, for the very first time under this big tent, the death-defying, awe-inspiring poetry gong!
The assignment
For our inaugural poetry gong, we will write a poem-a-day for seven days on the idea “new to you.”
Find a poet you have never read or a poet you haven’t read recently and let a poem or a line that’s “new to you” inspire your writing. You may want to buy a new book. You may want to exchange some of your old books for a used one at a local shop. You may want to go to your own shelves and admit it’s been ages since you pulled down the books you’ve collected. We bet many of them will seem “new to you.”
You will do this each day for seven days: read something “new to you” and write a poem. Starting tomorrow, you will post the poems to your blogs and link back here at the posts labeled Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc. (Please don’t post poems or links to this post. Tomorrow is Day 1. You will post your first poem then.)
At the end of the seven days, you will have seven brand new drafts.
What is a poetry gong?
A gong is any practice that is repeated daily for many days, so a poetry gong is a multi-day writing challenge. Our first one here is seven days, but they can be any length. The goal is to write one poem each day as part of a community of writers. The idea is that fellow writers provide the encouragement and accountability we sometimes need to shake up our writing practice.
We write these poems in the same spirit in which we write to our weekly prompts — knowing that they are early drafts, grateful to have our creative juices stirred, pleased to have companionship along the way.
Carolee and Jill started poetry gongs when Read Write Poem was active, and the gongs were among the site’s most popular features. We love the gongs so much, we designated a ring in our circus for them from the very beginning. We are thrilled they are underway.
Use the comments section here to let us know if you have any questions. In the meantime, start writing! But don’t post your Day #1 poems yet. We’ll ask for those tomorrow.
Love this challenge! Fits right into reading my recently purchased poetry books from Portland’s Wordstock.
so jealous of all the wordstock folks in portland and all the dodgers in newark. i was cleaning in my kitchen and getting fat on ben’s birthday cake. :)
i need this gong, too. very much!
i love the gong! i love the gong!
YAY!! I have MISSED THIS SO MUCH!!
Yowza, excited soooo many times over…. see me leaping through the air oh so gracefully (in my mind….)
great triple flip, julie!
[...] the Big Tent are writing a poem-a-day for seven days on the theme “new to you” (click here to see what this is all about). If this challenge isn’t something that interests you and [...]
guess am gonna skip it this time :( too much work .. but i will be there next time for sure :)
whenever you are ready!
[...] think I’ll join in this 7 day challenge – New to You – from the folks at Big Tent Poetry. For the daily inspirations, [...]
This will be a great learning experience and quite an exercize. New at the “Tent”. Be gentle with me! Here’s mine for Day One:
http://wjw2356.blogspot.com/2010/10/know-they-do.html
Welcome aboard, Walt!
We are all about Good Times. No harshness to be found around here!
hi, walt! will you repost your link under the post labeled “day one”? i stumbled upon it here but others are looking for poems under each day’s post. this was just the introduction of the theme.
the link day 2 under a day 2 post and day 3 … well, you get the idea.
don’t want your pieces to get overlooked. :)
[...] Big Tent Poetry we have started our first poetry gong (a multiple-day writing challenge). The idea is to write a poem each day, being kind to your muse [...]
[...] * The announcement of our first poetry gong (and an explanation of what that is) is here. [...]
[...] out of my resolve to write something every day, when like angels, the Big Tent gals tossed me a Gong. This time, it is a seven day, one-a-day challenge, with the added twist of using something from [...]
[...] the Big Tent are writing a poem-a-day for seven days on the theme “new to you” (click here to see what this is all about). If this challenge isn’t something that interests you and [...]
http://thepoet-tree-house.blogspot.com/
Here’s mine for the first day of Poetry Gong … hope I’ve understood the instructions correctly!
[...] Issa, edited by Robert Hass, The Ecco Press, 1994. So when I saw the announcement of the first poetry gong on Big Tent Poetry, I thought immediately of writing haiku in the style of a poet I am less [...]
[...] this is my first poem for Big Tent’s Poetry Gong… the challenge is seven poems in seven days (and I confess that I’m a day behind, so [...]
okay – just by looking at the other posts, I think I’m a day behind and a poem short – sounds like that old saying doesn’t it? What was it? A day late and a dollar short, I think … In any event – will move everything on forward and keep on keeping on – at least that’s the plan!
Sorry to be late. I’ll try to do 2, to catch up. Here’s the first: http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/new-to-you-for…-poetry-gong-1/
[...] now is Kay Ryan (having just finished the selections for W.S. Merwin). I am participating in the “new to you” poetry gong (a poem-a-day for seven days inspired by someone “new to you”) at Big Tent Poetry. [...]
[...] for Day 1 of Big Tent Poetry’s New to You Poetry Gong, which asks you to read poetry that is “new to you” and write a poem inspired by [...]
link! I just discovered big tent poetry today, so I’ll catch up by doing 2.
http://vibrantdiary.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/li-qingzhao/
[...] the Big Tent are writing a poem-a-day for seven days on the theme “new to you” (click here to see what this is all about). If this challenge isn’t something that interests you and [...]
[...] now. That makes Charles Simic “new to me” and the inspiration for a poem for Day 3 of the “new to you” poetry gong at Big Tent [...]
[...] offering for the Big Tent Poetry Gong… keying this time off of “Some Days” by Billy Collins. I hope that you’ve [...]
[...] on the heels of the last post, here’s the third one for the Big Tent Poetry Gong… inspired by Billy Collins’ “Forgetfulness“. You might remember a news [...]
[...] the Big Tent are writing a poem-a-day for seven days on the theme “new to you” (click here to see what this is all about). If this challenge isn’t something that interests you and [...]
[...] so here is my draft for today — Day 4 in the Big Tent Poetry gong (go see what everyone else is up [...]
[...] is my fourth one for the Poetry Gong… on a roll here! This one is based off of Billy Collins’ “Introduction to [...]
[...] a bit while I have some inspiration left in me this evening… this is the fifth one for the Big Tent Poetry Gong, off of Billy Collins’ “The First Night“. Echoing his epigraph, I chose a quote [...]
[...] So it could be that I am also writing for the 7-day poetry gong at Big Tent Poetry. Or it could be that I am coming down with another cold (which is karmic [...]
[...] the Big Tent are writing a poem-a-day for seven days on the theme “new to you” (click here to see what this is all about). If this challenge isn’t something that interests you and [...]
[...] I hadn’t read his poems until I started reading The Poets Laureate Anthology and writing for this poetry gong for Big Tent [...]
[...] six for the Big Tent Poetry Gong… I’m feeling pretty good at this point, I can’t believe I’ve been able to [...]
[...] the Big Tent are writing a poem-a-day for seven days on the theme “new to you” (click here to see what this is all about). If this challenge isn’t something that interests you and [...]
[...] are only two days left of this poetry gong, and I feel like I am going to make it. (Hope I am not jinxing myself.) As I continue on with my [...]
[...] not entirely thrilled with this last one for the Big Tent Poetry Gong, but then I’m not thrilled with the Collins poem (“Litany“) I was trying to build [...]
[...] the Big Tent are writing a poem-a-day for seven days on the theme “new to you” (click here to see what this is all about). If this challenge isn’t something that interests you and [...]