Poet George Ella Lyon on the “wellspring” of her work
When poet George Ella Lyon began writing poetry in college, she took on a voice that was not her own. “I was following the models I had — white males, primarily,” she said. But with the help of teachers, including Ruth Stone, Lyon came to understand that the voices she grew up with were authentically hers and became the “wellspring” of her work. Today, Lyon’s poem, “Where I’m From,” is probably the world’s most widely used writing prompt. It’s been an inspiration for countless writers, used by teachers, including First Lady Jill Biden, and featured on PBS and NPR. Many writers and artists hide their voices because they fear rejection. Lyon herself spent 11 years trying to get her first book published, so she knows how much it can sting. Her advice? “Don’t take it to heart, it’s not a rejection of you as a writer. For some reason this manuscript didn’t work for that publisher at that time.” Despite being known for using writing prompts Lyon has also said that writers shouldn’t feel constrained by them. “It’s none of your business where I’m from,” a teen once told Lyon during a high school writing workshop. Lyon’s response: “Good, write about that.” The student did and “it was furious.” Lyon heard the writer’s voice come through. “That was all I wanted.”
Bob Boilen’s Tiny Morning Show
Bob Boilen, creator of the NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and All Songs Considered, who recently retired, now has a weekly show on local radio station, WOWD-LP in Takoma Park. It’s called My Tiny Morning Show. (Boilen is also a photographer. On his Instagram feed, he often announces the songs he’ll play by featuring a list of songs over a photo of a bird. These photos were my inspiration for including this week’s drawing.) In one of my favorite episodes, Boilen celebrates the 60th anniversary of Beatle’s arrival at JFK airport on February 7, 1964. He starts the show with a local connection by pointing out that the first Beatle’s song ever played on U.S. radio was announced on-air by a 15-year-old from Silver Spring, MD. The song? “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” Erlier this month, Boilen announced that he is now WOWD-LP’s program director. (People’s Book, located right next door to WOWD-LP, recently celebrated their one-year anniversary. We particularly love their story time for babies and toddlers.)
Stories of people who “Embrace the Suck”
In Act Two of This American Life’s “Embrace the Suck” episode, Ike Sriskandarajah talks about an experience he and his wife had while sleep training their baby. One night, the crying got so intense that one of their neighbors called the police. As the parent of a toddler, I could empathize. I actually found his story comforting in a way. Act Three by Boen Wang is also great. In his intro, Ira Glass says Wang recorded his story about a summer of rough times on an iPhone. I particularly liked his distinctive use of sounds: birds, music, even Siri. The details add a lot of texture and color.