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Riverbank Poetry Project celebrates anniversary with a new chapbook
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River themes float throughout The Riverbank Poetry
Project's latest collection of new works.
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Dilettantes? Maybe. At least that's what Paul Thoms calls himself when it comes to poetry in the latest Fitton Center for Creative Arts' Riverbank Poetry Project endeavor. Riverbank Poetry, the recent chapbook publication, was put together in honor of two anniversaries: the Fitton's 10th and the Riverbank Poetry Project's eighth.
More a community than a project, the Riverbank Poetry Project began as an outlet for local poets of all ages, where writers gather at monthly readings throughout the academic year, workshops, open mic sessions and contests. Kids as young as 4 can be seen reading a favorite poem at a session, Thoms says, with other members ranging in ages well into their 80s. While not an annual publication, there are four previous chapbooks: one general mix of writers and three student volumes.
Riverbank Poetry's featured writers were selected by a committee and asked to submit three poems each. There were no specific guidelines: Poems could be any length, in any form, on any subject, which makes the coincidental unity all the more interesting.
The selection is everything the title suggests, with river themes running throughout -- fish, water, crows, buckeyes, grandpa's severed thumb. But the contributors certainly were not limited to river writing. There are also urban-inspired pieces (Michael Henson's "Loneliness in New York City") as well as the emotional (Thoms' "Depression," and "I am" by Riverbank Poetry's youngest contributor, Emily Weber).
Thoms values the committee's no censor policy, but most pieces could be rated G to PG. One of the only poems with any suggestive language is "El Gordo's Geography Lesson" by Scott Goebel ("Hey, you assholes!" is the line). As far as content, Richard Hague's "Poems When Nobody's Looking" gets a little fierce when "the assassin poem flicks its knife/ across the unsuspecting throat/that gushes at once/its hot bib of blood."
As for the rest of the selections, they're all fairly calm -- wonderfully sad at times; other times almost pastoral. And such is the mood created by the chapbook.
Grab a copy, crawl under an old oak tree and wile the day away.
RIVERBANK POETRY, can be purchased at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, 101 S. Monument St., Hamilton. 513-863-8873.
E-mail Jessica Turner
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