Wild Violet online literary magazine » reading

Biography Year

Margaret Montet — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 13:00:13 +0000

Twelve individuals were born in my mind last year. My project went like this: I read one biography each month—some from my pile of the unread, and some that I heard about during that year. The subjects of these biographies, living and dead, mingled in my mind and became defined by the people, places, and ideas that were important to them. They went from being two-dimensional faces with names attached, to characters with three-dimensional personalities. As I got to know them, they seemed to get to know each other, connecting on places and interests they shared. I mind-mapped each, and looked for trends and connections among them. The librarian part of me was hoping to put together a clever biography selection and reading guide, but mainly, I just wanted to explore the genre.

I use mind maps to organize and remember information. I learned about this technique from a member of my book club, and for a very long time, this is where I practiced mind mapping. I mapped details of the books we read so that I could more easily enter into discussion. Soon I realized that mind maps helped me find connections, threads, and hierarchies as well. One step further, I sometimes make a meta map to summarize findings from multiple sources on a topic (books, articles, radio shows, interviews, etc.). I use mind maps to organize my writing and speaking, too.

Mind map of Molly Brown

By mind mapping my biographies as I read them, I was able to observe trends, and became intrigued by the art of biography writing. Over the course of the Biography Year, certain questions reappeared for almost every individual.

What surprises surfaced about the subject? Was the biographer surprised by these, too?

The musical theater and film character “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” was based upon a real person named Margaret Brown who actually did survive the Titanic disaster and never went by the name “Molly.” The first pandas brought to the United States were captured and transported by a socialite widow named Ruth Harkness and her Chinese partner and guide. Beethoven worried a lot.

What places are important to the subject’s life, and did the subject become more familiar to me if I visited these places?

I happened to be in Denver recently and visited Margaret “Molly” Brown’s House of Lions. Having read the biography, this was a delightful experience, except I was disappointed at how much of Brown’s amazing life the tour guide left out. I understand that most people are intrigued by her surviving the Titanic disaster and that, if he had described all of her Denver civic accomplishments, the tour would have been three times longer.

Who were the major characters in the subject’s life? Were they collaborators or muses? Was the subject a rugged individualist? Did the biographer research these people?

Beethoven was a loner. Samuel de Champlain, Marco Polo, Bruce Springsteen, and Ruth Harkness often worked collaboratively, understanding that multiple minds offer multiple perspectives for a creative solution. Duke Ellington got ideas from other musicians, but took most of the credit.

What were the connections to the other eleven subjects?

(continued on page 2)

Reading ‘Elephant’

Suellen Wedmore — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 02:50:46 +0000

A sight-reading child,
I thrilled to the image
sheathed in a word—

elephant—

the elongated contour,
the tall l, h, and t,
transporting me to an African

savannah,

to baobab trees and a striped big top,
a sequined gymnast in arabesque
on a blanketed, thick-skinned back.

Circus

of the preposterous—who created
your enormous folds? That thousand-
muscled trunk, your euphonium call?

Who

imagined such cleverness, your two tons
of brawn balanced on legs like pillars?
And yet, in our flawed world, you were

not prized.

Consider de Brunhoff’s bowler-hatted,
green-suited Babar, and Hannibal,
whose passion for war led you,

gentle behemoth,

across the Alps, exploited
your instinct to charge, your
fierce facade. Your roaring

potential.

Wild Violet Reading Recap

Alyce Wilson — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:07:23 +0000

Thank you to everyone who made it to the Wild Violet 10th Anniversary Reading on Saturday, October 1 at MilkBoy Coffee in Ardmore, and special thanks to MilkBoy for hosting the event.

We had a good group of participants. Our readers were:

Charles Sanft

Charles Sanft is originally from Minnesota. He spends most of his time reading, writing, and talking with his wife.

He read some short essays, including a humorous essay inspired by ancient Persian decision-making processes.

Flash fiction – “Cicadas” (Vol. IX Issue 2 – Summer 2010 – Heat Wave)

Kathryn Nevin

Born in England, Kathryn Nevin has lived in the U.S. most of her life, completing undergraduate studies in English and Spanish Literature at Swarthmore College and obtaining a Master’s in Social Work degree also. She has several poetry publications including the Swarthmore Falconer; Drexel Online Journal; Ometeca (a Spanish/English literary magazine); Susquehanna Review; and Wild Violet.

She read poetry about a death in the family and about the prison where she works.

Poem – “On Parole” (Vol. VII Issue 3 – Linked Lives)

Amy Barone

Amy Barone is the author of poetry chapbook, Views from the Driveway, from Foothills Publishing. The book was inspired by growing up in suburban Philadelphia, nights hanging out with musician friends, living in Italy, and the haunting redemption of dreams. Her poetry has appeared in Avanti Popolo, Gradiva, Wild Violet, Philadelphia Poets and several PoetWorks Press anthologies. A native of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Amy has lived in New York City since 1999 where she works as Director of Communications for Dr. Mehmet Oz’s HealthCorps, a proactive health movement for at risk communities.

Amy Barone, a native of Bryn Mawr, read poetry based on her childhood and other life milestones.

Poem – “Felid Score” (Vol. VI Issue 3 – Mortal Coil)

Bernie Mojzes

Bernie Mojzes is the author of The Evil Gazebo, a short, illustrated book that is being rebirthed as a stage production later this year. He is also responsible for a passel of short stories that have or will appear in various anthologies and magazines, including Daily Science Fiction, Dead Souls, Crossed Genres and the Bad-Ass Faeries series, and is 50 percent of the editorial team at The Journal of Unlikely Entomology. Although he has on occasion been accused of committing Public Acts of Music and Philosophy, no charges were ever filed. He can be found at Kappamaki.com.

He read some creative non-fiction about moving into a house with a tragic past and an excerpt from his book, The Evil Gazebo.

Flash fiction – “Jumping Rope in Fitler Square” (Volume IX Issue 2 – Summer 2010 – Heat Wave)

Ben Heins

Ben Heins is the author of the forthcoming electronic poetry chapbook, Greatest Hits & B-Sides: 2007-2011 (Vagabondage Press). He will be graduating from Rosemont College in the spring of 2012 with an MFA in poetry.

He read some of his poetry, including a tribute to his poetry mentor and a piece for his dad.

Poem – “Haiku for Allentown” (Vol. VII Issue 2 – World Voyage)

Poem – “Where Len Lies” (Vol. VII Issue 3 – Linked Lives)

As the host of the event, editor Alyce Wilson read portions of her own poetry and a humorous essay, in between introductions. At the close of the official readers, the stage was opened up for an open mic, and Philadelphia area poet Mel Brake read one of his poems.

There was cake and door prizes, but Alyce’s 15-month-old son missed out. He had to be taken home after refusing to stop stage diving onto the couch in the front row.

Open Mic Added to Anniversary Reading

Alyce Wilson — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:10:16 +0000

As an added incentive to those of you who might be on the fence about attending the Wild Violet 10th Anniversary Reading, we’re going to add an open mic portion to the end of the event. So if you’re a writer but not a Wild Violet contributor, please consider bringing some of your work!

You can find more information in the original post on the event.

If you are planning to read — either as a Wild Violet contributor or in the open mic — please drop me a message to let me know: wildvioletmagazine@yahoo.com. Thanks!