Hello everyone....I'm Charley Springer and in 2019, had my first collections of poems entitled JUICE published by Regal House Publishing. You can visit my website at https://www.charlesspringer.com and get a taste of what's inside JUICE. It is totally non-alcoholic but as you read some of its poems, you may have doubts! Cheers

These past few years I have written and published mostly prose poems. This form works for me ninety percent of the time. They reflect how the poem is born and I so much enjoy the process.

HOW I WRITE      

It's rare I read without being led to write, which some might say prevents me from simply enjoying another writer's words. The writers, most often poets, particularly prose poets whose work I cling to over and over will see me stop in the middle of a passage to grab a pencil and piece of paper to get my thoughts down as quickly as possible for they can be fleeting and I forget easily anymore. Friends say it's age! These thoughts are usually the beginning of something of my own, something big, reflective of a real experience or as I soon discover, something I've probably made up. Sometimes it's hard to tell! With this all happening, I've put down the book and may not pick it up again for days. This book and others I keep by my bed, I usually only read at night and some nights, they read me and themselves to sleep. When I get up in the morning and over a cup of something hot, I type what I have scribbled in the dark into Word, the Office program, not the sacred text and this Word file is what I'll read and edit and revise for days. Half the time I'd say it finishes into something good. What doesn't, get tossed.

HOW I FEEL ABOUT NOT WRITING

For years I belonged to a local writer's group, mostly poets, a few short story writers, a memoirist or two and all were academics except me. I learned so much from them by simply listening and I came to love them all. We were, for the most part, eager and very productive, bringing something we've written to nearly every Thursday night meeting to read aloud and have critiqued. I recall one spring I hadn't written anything for weeks and the group got a little concerned. I finally told them, hey, it's okay, it'll happen when it happens. And it did late that summer and I couldn't stop. Writing was all I did. My point is write when you want, write when you can and when you can't, go mow the lawn or wash the car. Particularly the lawns and cars of those in the writing group who are too busy writing.

I grew up on a dairy farm in Spotsylvania, Virginia and commuted by train to the Pentagon to work on defense budgets. To keep my sanity, I wrote short stories. More than two dozen magazines published them. I eventually escaped the long commute and politics to move to New Bern, North Carolina. A place my wife and I had never been to before. Here, I belong to several writing groups and I volunteer at a few non-profits that include writing grants for them. Last year I self-published my first scifi YA novel and plan this year to publish a literary/satire novel about train commuters.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for in a writing group. Maybe some shared critiquing or just a conversation.

I taught creative writing and still offer workshops online for now. I'm interested in collaborative merging of art forms or hybrid writing as well as the genres listed above. I have many years of teaching experience--from being a writer-in-residence in schools to teaching writing in an arts magnet high school to over 12 years of university teaching. I currently live in a tiny rural community so opportunities for connection are mostly online. I am in two online writing groups.

I'm interested in refining my prose poetry and microfiction skills.  I've published 3 books of poetry and flash fiction, and 5 chapbooks of poetry.  In my view, as a writer, one is always a beginner. “All poetry is experimental poetry.” --Wallace Stevens.

I'm a graduate of the Columbia University MFA program in Fiction and have published in a number of literary journals; my creative practice includes work as an exhibiting artist as well. I'm predominantly interested in short fiction, but I also write some creative nonfiction. I currently teach writing at a university in southwestern Ontario. I am looking for a regular workshop that values diverse voices and takes the writing seriously.

My creative writing career took a serious turn about three years ago when I took a much needed sabatical from teaching public education. I began writing everyday for the fun of it, and then slowly that evolved into a discipline. I began writing for an encouragement website; articles on healing, grief, community, etc. I founded both a Writer's Club for the local library where I work, as well as a Teen Writer's Club. I took part in a couple of creative writing workshops with other authors and have always learned so much from them! I have finished writing one novel and am in the throes of editing. I am also working on several different short stories in hopes of submitting them to contests or literary magazines for publication. Because I lead two different groups, I am looking for a writing group to be a part of collective of artists who workshop. I am a creative soul and use different mediums to express myself, however writing is my first love language. I also thrive in artistic community, and I yearn to learn from other writers. J.R.R. Tolkien is one of my favorite authors and the Inklings (a tight-knit group of writer's who met regularly to discuss ideas, plot routes, character developments, etc.-this group included C.S. Lewis by the way)  is a permanent goal for a writing community atmosphere. A group to bring work to the table and pick it apart for both content, structure and grammar.