Poetry Series Helps Jump Start Creativity

For the past few weeks one would be forgiven for mistaking the cafe for a Parisian salon. 

This past Monday, a group of local residents were seen in the coffee shop on Fire Island Avenue huddled over a table, appearing to be lost in concentration working on what appeared to be a project.

The task of the group was to write whatever came to mind based on an intriguing prompt from published poet Nancy Keating. 

They were participating in a workshop designed to "jump start" ideas for poets and writers. The challenging exercises (quick, write for 10 minutes about the current midterm elections through the voice and lens of Glamour or Town & Country magazine) forced the group to think creatively and freely on the spot.

Keating, who lives in the Babylon area, is hosting a series of Poetry Jumpstart workshops at the coffee shop on Monday evenings starting at 7 p.m. through November 22. The free program, sponsored by the (BVAC), is designed to encourage ideas and creativity by using writing prompts as jumping-off points for writers.  

The November 1 workshop was attended by three writers who wrote for timed intervals and then shared their writing with the group for constructive feedback.  The first prompt asked writers to imagine they were looking at a photograph from their life and write on the subject.  Another exercise was called "Clash of the Senses" and participants were encouraged to ascribe sensory imagery to an emotion. 

Keating said that at a previous workshop she brought postcards in for the writers to use as a writing prompt, all for the purpose of kick-starting the creative process.  

The method used by the workshops was created by poet Pat Schneider, the founder of Amherst Writers & Artists, and focuses on creating a safe environment for writers to share their first draft work, with only positive commentary from others. The practice is meant to gently push participants into exploring ideas and paths they would not have otherwise.

Keating, who also hosts poetry readings at the , has had work published in various poetry anthologies including Long Island Sounds: An Anthology, Xanadu, Abbey, Barbaric Yawp, Pegasus, Mad Poets Review, Iodine Poetry Journal, and The Sow's Ear Poetry Review. She also serves as the chairperson of the BVAC Poetry Committee.